A writer, a painter, an actor, a ballerina, a rockstar, all legitimate answers to the common question: what do you want to be when you grow up? At least… in elementary school. Now, this common icebreaker becomes harder to answer, though many will reply with variations of lawyer and doctor. However, a key component is missing from that new and improved list: artist. Those who do choose this seemingly eccentric option are often told that it is unrealistic and not a feasible profession. Furthermore, being told that their creative pursuits may be a fun hobby but fruitless as a profession can be incredibly detrimental and deterring for young creatives looking into careers in the arts.
The Starving Artist is a stereotype of an artist who sacrifices material possessions and a steady income to pursue their art. According to House of Van Schneider, Vincent Van Gogh, though now an esteemed artist, only sold a few pieces in his lifetime and faced major financial struggles. According to the National Archives, Edgar Allan Poe often faced financial difficulties and even filed for bankruptcy. To many adults, a young artist may seem doomed to a life of waiting tables to scrape up enough money for a musical instrument, paints, or pointe shoes. While getting the lead in the elementary school play every year, making their movies, or dancing gracefully may seem impressive at a young age, now it simply brings up questions of the future.
“They were saying how ‘oh, you can’t get a lot of money about that’ and how it’s just not really professional and that you can’t go into any other careers after that and that is just not good for you…but I didn’t listen to them and I just kept on going,” Diana Sinko, seventh-grade visual arts major said. “It’s [harmful] because it breaks down the creativity and the motivation to all the dreams.”
In fact, in a survey conducted by the Portfolio Newspaper, 86% of respondents have heard or been told that going into the arts as a career is unrealistic or not a ‘real’ job. The impact of this can be detrimental to creativity and motivation. Approximately 70% of the students in the survey said that the stereotype was harmful and discouraging and 24% said they didn’t mind it. A mere 6% said it was just being realistic. However, it must be said that careers in the arts are generally less stable and harder to live off of.
“I think that they’re being realistic because honestly there’s next to a zero chance that an artist can become famous because that takes a lot of work and a lot of commitment…If you dedicate your life to it and then they’re like ‘Oh hey, yeah we don’t want your art,’ then you wasted all of your time and you wasted all of your skills and you might not be able to earn money any other way…It’s really easy to become a failed artist,” Maddy Wiseberg, sixth-grade communications major said.
If the careers in the arts are so difficult, it may seem unclear to many why we pursue them. Artists strive for creativity. We see the world differently, through our music, drawings, movement, scenes, films, and writing pieces. Our creativity generally leads us to become more emotionally aware adults and draws us to professions we will truly enjoy. According to a study by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, 70% of adults who went into art careers, including writing, dance, and fine arts, were “very satisfied” with their jobs. On the other hand, this can’t always be said about other professions. In The Gallup organization’s American Workplace Report, 70% of American workers, including those in popular professions such as executives, doctors, and sales workers, were not actively engaged in their work and were emotionally disconnected from their workplaces. Urging to go into a ‘real’ profession may turn out to do more harm than good.
The starving artist stereotype is hurtful and discouraging. While it must be said that careers in the arts can be difficult, they still are a great source of creativity and imagination. There is no one perfect, golden answer to the career question, but stifling our creativity is unquestionably not one of them.
