Artists Working In The Art World

Speaking from personal experience, I know it’s difficult as a newly graduated fine art student to decide what next step to take in your career. On the one hand there is the strong desire to continue working as a practicing artist, on the other there are bills to pay, a future to plan for, and the need for stability. Many artists find that their artistic career is unsustainable without supplementary income at the start of their careers, and naturally, wish to work within the art world. Unfortunately, not all fine art degree programmes invest time in teaching about the practicalities of the art world or the art market. It often falls to students to make sure they understand how to forge a career in the industry, even down to the roles which they could, and should be pursuing to advance their career.

Easily romanticised, we cannot forget that the art world is an industry, and it continues thanks to the work force behind it. Forging a network and understanding the way the wheel spins will not only help your personal growth and potentially sustain your career but will also help you become a smarter and more strategic artist. Many jobs will give you some level of growth and transferable experience but positions in the art world also draw upon your passions and knowledge. Not only will these roles be the ones that give you the most advantages as an artist in the long run, but they can also become a career you can enjoy. Learning about organisation, communication, efficiency, administration, and how to display and discuss artworks, are all things that you will need as an artist.

There still exists an unfair stereotype of the artist being creative, emotional, and only interested in their own art production, often resulting in a misunderstanding that artists are unorganised, unreliable, and not suited for office jobs. Although there are individuals that fit this stereotype, this is certainly not a fundamental character trait of the artist. Artists are often able to contribute impressively within a professional environment, and many can forge a secondary commercial career to their artistic work thanks to their perseverance and innate qualities. Artists are often flexible, creative, adaptable, possess impressive research skills, a deep understanding of artworks and artists, and an ability to discuss artworks not only analytically but also emotionally.

Advice for candidates:

An important piece of advice for recently graduated artists is to ensure that they separate their creative practice from their art market career. This means, for example, not mentioning the exhibitions you have participated in when writing your CV for an administrative role. We often find candidates who are light on experience do this thinking it will at least show they have done something, but it could instead send the message that you are interested in finding a filler role rather than a career, and an employer will always want to give the role to someone who they feel really wants it. In general, keep only relevant jobs on your CV, or ask a recruiter for advice on what to keep and take out.

If you are continuing a professional practice alongside a position in the industry, there is the important question of how to balance money, time, and stress. A full-time job will result in less time to produce your own work and, if you have a studio, paying that rent can seem absurd for the time you’ll be there; but you may not have enough space at home to work and studios offer a great interaction with other artists. Ideally you would get a part time job that can sustain you, but those are highly coveted positions.

It’s also not easy to be productive and creative when you are so concerned with outside factors. Deciding what to prioritise and how to make the best of your time is a personal choice. It is important to be honest with yourself on what kind of stress you would be able to handle. Be realistic about what you want your life to look like, set a realistic budget and use that as a metric for the salaries you’re looking for.  

Remember that your practice will change with time and will be informed by your experiences, so do consider changes in all aspects of your life to be a benefit. Not having a studio space can be a stressor, but there are other ways to keep your practice and relationships alive if you are flexible; a change in circumstances can often be an opportunity instead of a step back.

Everyone has different backgrounds and skills, but we have found a lot of artists to be well suited to positions like gallery assistants, technicians, and studio assistants.

• Studio Assistant: In this role you gain insight into how an established artist works. It is a good jumping point for a lot of careers, with a mix of responsibilities including gallery liaison, admin, bookkeeping, PA responsibilities, fabrication, space management, and logistics.
• Technician: This is a good role for those who want a lot of flexibility as technicians often work freelance. They are needed throughout the art world, at galleries, museums, moving companies, and fairs. This role sometimes also involves fabrication, but you would need to feel very confident in your tech skills. Very senior and professional technicians can become project managers working on incredible installations and getting to use their creative thinking.  
• Gallery Assistant: A position with very broad responsibilities, this is a great opportunity to see the commercial side of things first-hand. A GA often gets to do a bit of everything; admin, logistics, PA duties, artist liaison, client liaison, fair organisation/applications, writing press releases, research, and database management.

These are only a few of the many possible careers you could pursue as an artist, and we always recommend looking at job descriptions (even of jobs that you may not be suitable for now) to get a better sense of responsibility and the skills required as this may inspire you to choose a path that can lead you to a specific role.

Ultimately whatever decision you make should be the right one for you – your job will be where you spend a significant amount of your time, so we believe it’s important to find one that makes you happy and enables a sense of purpose. This way, you will leave your job feeling energised and that feeling might even contribute to the creation of new artworks and the development of your artistic career.