Are you wondering how you can leverage your creativity and love of art into a professional career? While pursuing an art career typically requires formal education, hard work, dedication and talent, there are many different types of professional opportunities in this field. When you take the time to consider the wide variety of art careers that exist, there’s a good chance that you’ll find a few options that just might suit you perfectly.
List of 60 Art Careers
If you think there are only a few options for careers in the art field, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that there are dozens of choices. Here are 60 of the most popular career options for people who want to work as artists or in an occupation related to art and design.
- Acquisitions specialist
- Advertiser
- Animator
- Antique appraiser
- Antiques refinisher
- Architectural designer
- Art appraiser
- Art auctioneer
- Art director
- Art gallery curator
- Art gallery owner
- Art gallery manager
- Art historian
- Art investor
- Art librarian
- Art professor
- Art reviewer
- Art teacher
- Art therapist
- Artists’ agent
- Arts organization fundraiser
- Caricature artist
- Cartoonist
- Commercial artist
- Corporate communication specialist
- Costume designer
- Craftsperson
- Creative director
- Courtroom artist
- Display designer
- Estate appraiser
- Exhibit installer
- Fashion designer
- Film production
- Furniture designer
- Glass blower
- Graphic designer
- Layout artist
- Illustrator
- Industrial designer
- Interior designer
- Landscape designer
- Logo designer
- Makeup artist
- Multimedia artist
- Museum archivist
- Museum curator
- Museum manager
- Painter
- Photographer
- Photojournalist
- Police sketch artist
- Portrait artist
- Set designer
- Sketch artist
- Tattoo artist
- Television production
- Videographer
- Visual merchandiser
- Web designer
Education Considerations for Art Careers
The path preparing you to work as a professional artist will vary greatly from one job to another and generally consists of a combination of higher education and hands-on experience through an internship program or in-school work experience. For some types of jobs, a certificate or associate degree in commercial art, graphic design or a related field may be sufficient. For other positions, a bachelor’s or graduate level degree in fine art, art history or a related field may be necessary.
Those who want to work in a business oriented position in the art world can benefit from earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in addition to an undergraduate degree in a field of artistic study. Highly specialized occupations require specialized training. For example, art therapists must complete the academic requirements necessary to become a licensed therapist as well as art-specific education.
There are also unique requirements for those who want to work as art educators. Those who want to work as teachers in a K-12 education environment must earn degrees in education and become certified to teach in the state where they want to work. Individuals who wish to become professors must earn a doctoral degree.
Begin Preparing for Your Career in Art
Once you have an idea of the type of art career that you are most interested in, you’ll be able to begin researching the exact education requirements you will need in order to be ready to enter the field. Start by looking for colleges that offer training programs specific to the profession and contact major employers to find out about their hiring preferences for entry level employees. This information will help you make wise decisions about how to properly prepare for the next stage of your career.
