What career options are there for someone with an art degree?

Hi Morgan,

There are actually quite a lot of career opportunities for art majors, but it all depends on the type of art you focus on. There is certainly a good deal of cross over in art fields; color theory, aesthetics, design, composition, etc. But there are just as many specifics that are not transferable.

Arts careers run the gamut from performing arts to visual arts to literature. For the sake of brevity I will focus on visual arts since that is my focus. Fine art painters can do very well selling pieces to individuals through galleries and referrals. Commercial artists generally work for companies (either in-house or freelancing) in fields ranging from scientific illustration to children's books to video games, movies, animation, automotive design, etc.

Artists usually start out creating art under the direction of lead artists and/or art directors but may eventually work their way through to these other positions. Some artists prefer to stay in art production rather than going into art management. There is no right or wrong job except what is right or wrong for you. There are many career opportunities in art out there.

For a more comprehensive and interactive list, you might search google for art careers. Here's one site that popped up when I looked:

http://www.theartcareerproject.com/art-as-a-career/