Careers in the Arts

Careers in the Arts: Demystifying the Starving Artist

Career development is a process that starts long before you arrive on campus. Choosing a major to study while in college also means choosing a path towards a career. The foundation year offered at PrattMWP provides you with experience in different areas within the arts so that you can choose the major that suits you best.

After you relocate to Pratt’s main campus in Brooklyn, you have access to its career services office, where you work with an advisor specific to your major. Pratt Institute’s Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) assists students and alumni with internships, residency and job placement. CCPD helps you with resume and cover letter trainings and networking opportunities. The advisors work with you to navigate the path from college to career with clarity, competence, and confidence. They stay abreast of changing trends and employer needs, and they guide you into an easy transition from college into the work environment, maintaining relationships with employers and internship providers nationally and internationally.

Check out Pratt’s Job Placement page, and see how well Pratt students do after they graduate: https://www.pratt.edu/student-life/center-forcareer-professional-development/recent-graduate-outcomes/

Art and Design Education

Pratt alumni can be found in public and private schools, museum education, exhibition design, curriculum planning, arts administration, publishing, special education programs, early childhood education, senior centers, and community arts programs.

Occupations Art Teacher (Elementary/Secondary) College and Art School Professor Community Arts Programs Museum Art Education Programs Art Historian Art Supervisor or Administrator Art Therapist Artist-in-Residence Starting Salary Range: averaging $30,000- $50,000

Fine Arts

Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Jewelry, Sculpture and Integrated Practices The field of fine arts is usually a dual career field for those who wish to pursue production, exhibition and sale of their artwork while supporting themselves at the same time. The Center for Career

and Professional Development Office at Pratt Institute lists more than 4000 jobs annually, offering career counseling and job referrals for those entering this field.

Occupations Arts Administrator Art Buyer/Consultant Art Exhibit Coordinator Art Handler Art Historian Art Therapist Artist-in-Residence Cartoonist Ceramic Artist Commercial Printer Commissioned Portrait Painter Conservator Courtroom Artist Creative Director Critic Curator Custom Woodworker Display Designer Exhibition Designer Fine Artist Forensic Artist Foundry Worker / Welder Furniture Designer Gallery Director Jewelry Designer Metal Artist Mosaic Artist Motion Picture Sculptor/Modeler Museum Staff Print Production Manager Print shop Owner Professor Silkscreen Artist Sculptor Starting Salary Range: vary by career

Communications Design

Graphic Design, Illustration Careers within the communications design field vary from freelance work, entrepreneurship to employment by major consumer advertising agencies in major cities across the globe. Most fields within communications design allow for a flexible career option. Occupations Advertising Director Art Director Artist-in-Residence Branding Manager Book Illustrator Cartoon Artist Creative Director Editorial Illustrator Graphic Designer Illustrator Logo Designer Medical Illustrator Package Designer Professor Technical Illustrator Web Designer Starting Salary Range: averaging $30,000- $50,000

Photography

Photography offers a wide range of jobs—both full-time and freelance— a career within photography requires flexible, high energy individuals who are team players. Competition is intense for “glamorous” positions. Some alumni choose to follow a fine arts path and

exhibit their work rather than pursuing a commercial career.

Occupations Art Director Artist-in-Residence Corporate Photographer Documentary/Travel Photographer Editorial Photographer Event Photographer Fashion Photographer Fine Art Photographer Film/Video Production Still Photographer Gallery Assistant Medical/Science Photographer Photojournalist Photo Archivist Photo Editor Photo Researcher Photo Technician Photographer’s Assistant Portrait Photographer Product Photographer Professor/Teacher Stock Photographer