Every year I see tons of people walking down to the local Art school and I have to laugh.
They are spending thousands for those art supplies, tens of thousands for the classes, and graduating with tens of thousands of other art students into careers that don’t exist, with tens of thousands in debt.
Art schools used to be trade schools. In Manhattan, they still are - unless you’re talking about the really big ones like Pratt. There are a lot of jobs that you can extract from a good art degree. Just was reading about Julian Beck, the theatre artist, who got excellent jobs as a window dresser before he became successful as a theatre person. Window dressing in Manhattan is a huge deal and very lucrative.
Actually there are lots of jobs you can get with and art degree but its not traditional art as in taking a canvas and making pretty pictures.
Its in graphic art and animation and such like that.
And a lot of that stuff pays pretty well and there is a lot of job opportunities. (Way more than "woman's studies" or "gay and lesbian humanities" etc.)
My daughter is one of those students who is walking around with art supplies BUT those classes are requirements to get her on the path she wants to take. She has taken the approach that she wants to do either architecture OR a job in animation OR art therapy And if she goes the architect route she is also considering structural engineering. And every one of those paths require she take basic art classes.