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Art
students drawn into real world
By
Krystle Ralston
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
As
you walk through our campus, you might
notice an overwhelming amount of people
with art boxes, drawing boards and canvases.
There
are 3,300 undergraduates and 250 graduate
students currently enrolled in the arts
department, making it the largest department
on campus. The art department encompasses
visual arts, including fine arts, design
(industrial and interior), film, electronics,
music, dance and theatre.
"I'm
getting my master's degree to become
a better artist and eventually become
an art professor," said graduate
student and sculpture major Jocelyn Schneider. "A
lot of my friends who are art majors
are going into art installations for
galleries as a career, and teaching at
community colleges."
As
stated in the Career Monograph for the
arts department, "The field of art
can be broken into six major areas, teaching,
art history, design, fine arts, crafts
and art support. Some artists are self-employed
and complete their art work on a contract
basis. Some operate studios in which
their artwork is sold. Others are employed
by organizations such as art museums,
galleries and centers as full-time commercial
artists, designers, illustrators, photographers,
instructors and staff members."
Art
students have many doors to choose from,
some, like senior illustration major
Josh Kempbell, even create their own
paths.
He
said, "I'd like to do freelance
illustrations, maybe for comic books."
Others
take a different approach to their careers.
"I'd
like to be a high school art teacher,
because I loved my high school experience
with art," said freshman art education
major Jenna McDaniel. "High school
can be such a hard place to express yourself,
and I want to be someone who can inspire
students."
Art
education is a common field artists go
into simply because they are teaching
what they love. A teaching credential
is required for any type of teaching
position, which takes approximately one
extra year after a bachelor's degree
is finished.
As
graduation looms ahead for these students,
the concept of reality and the "real
world" is in plain sight.
Freshman
painting and drawing major Melissa Morin,
who has just begun her career path to
become a professional artist, said, "The
classes here are amazing; they've taught
me so much."
The
question now becomes what has Cal State
Long Beach done for these hard-working
individuals who will forever have clay
and paint underneath their fingernails?
Maybe they haven't quite rolled in the
money, but they have made a name for
themselves.
Recently,
two CSULB interior design students took
first and second place in the Los Angeles
chapter of the American Institute of
Architects, in the Interior Architecture
Student competition. In November 2003,
CSULB film students received first place
honors in four of the five top awards
at the CSU-wide Media Arts awards.
So
it seems that there is hope for the aspiring
artists. Not every art student is doomed
for a life of eating canned beans and
having empty wallets. So while they shell
out the cash in the art stores, purchasing
erasers and oil pastels, they have the
opportunity to reap the benefits after
college, hopefully not after they are
dead. |
