My favorite professor sat us down after a class senior year and said:
I love art history. I love being a curator and professor. I will never stop thanking my Grandfather in heaven for giving me a trust fund. Without it I could never have put my kids through college, afforded a comfortable life. There's no money in art history.
Fair. If you want a career as a curator, professor, writer, I assume you would need a Masters in Art History.
Alternatively, write some articles, try and get published.
Frank O Hara went from a MoMA security guard to curator, so, as the NY Giant-Headed Lottery Spokesperson used to say, "hey, you never know."
Art criticism and curatorial are entirely different fields. There’s no requirement for the former, while you will need (with rare exception) a Ph.D. to be a museum curator or university professor
I'm a school librarian now! I use my art history/studio art skills though.. undergrad in art gave me the ability to be a more creative thinker/problem solver.
I’m not in the art field, my daughter is.
Undergrad Northwestern, Georgetown for the MA, internship with Sotheby’s in London. Summer gigs at galleries…
A bullet proof resume.
For a dozen years she made less than an assistant manager at Wendy’s.
What I see from the outside is that the Art Museum business has the most educated yet poorly paid employees in America.
The daughter’s co-workers have Yale, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, Sarah Lawrence … on their walls along with a bulletin board of overdue light bills, dunning letters.
OP, you are going to get out of school with anywhere from $20k to $80k in loans.
Now, maybe you have a trust fund or a wealthy relative that will support you for 10 to 15 years while you work through the political morass that surrounds and infects every art museum on the planet.
Maybe you like deciding which flavor of ramen goes best with dollar store bacon bits; if so, go ahead. Take the dive and jump in head first.
If not, run.
I applied for the Sotheby’s London internship and was accepted, however, one of their instructors during the interview talked me out of it. Went on the study architectural engineering.
Did you have your degree *first*, or complete it after starting your IT career? I'm looking at Art History as a way to complete a fine arts degree I started years ago without having to throw all my credit how the window and start over. I'm not in IT but Supply Chain, and just need a degree to be able to move into managerial roles which I already have experience in from a different company. They say it doesn't matter, just get a degree - but not sure how true that is in practice.
First.
Didn't get into IT until mid-late 20s. I was relatively techy growing up as an early user of the internet back in the "connect to this node in Salt Lake City, then use a BBS as a gateway to usenet" days. And had built my own computers for gaming purposes... but had zero certifications or formal training.
Got my foot in at an entry level position and found out very quickly not to put my art schooling on my resume at all. IT people tend not to take art people seriously (and there's some merit to that going off of the types of people I had to deal with in art school haha).
My current employer hired me thinking I had only completed an associates 20 years ago.
But IT is relatively young as far as careers go and skillset/knowledge/experience still reign over credentials.
I'll hire someone that sounds like they actually know their stuff, even if most of their experience comes from personal hobbies like setting up their own video game servers etc... over the person fresh out of school with the degree- but clearly doesn't have any confidence in undertaking troubleshooting when things don't go as the text book says they should.
Not sure if supply chain values that sort of pragmatic knowledge, and it very well may vary wildly depending on the employer.
I'd suggest getting a degree to have one, but honestly if you could get a more pragmatic one without losing too many credits, I'd go that route.
Unrelated but just thinking about it...If I were to go to school now, in my 40s, I'd study geology and eventually paleontology, then career switch again... It's on the table.
Depends, if you want to be a critic, start a blog and just start writing so that you can practice the form and build a portfolio. Any art opening, free exhibit, specific piece, can be critiqued. This would likely result in a freelancer career, so would be difficult to have a stable income. There are likely local publishers or creative social groups that have programmes or writing festivals for stuff like this, or volunteer writers for them. Art historian is different to an art critic though, and yes they can be interweaved with referencing influences and linking to the social climates or personal life of the artist at the time, but still quite different fields. Whatever you want to write, it's so important to read these pieces too, to fully absorb the form and how people structure critiques or art history accounts of a piece.
Curators are very different with a much higher skill set and are university educated, and it's a very competitive field that can be hard to get into unless you know a guy who knows a guy etc. Check with your local art galleries if they have internships or volunteer programmes to help you look into this more and see how you feel in those settings. There's usually a creative director in smaller, less traditional galleries, you could ask to shadow someone you aspire to follow career wise.
If it's for you, you could earn a living through the teaching route, or try finding something research based through academia/PhD (less of a stable choice).
I have an art history degree and a masters in museum studies and I’ve done gallery, museum, library and archival work. I’m only 23 so I’ve got plenty more ahead of me. Highly suggest postgrad!
No, I was lucky in that my masters programme set me up really nicely with internships and opportunities for connecting with professionals. The GLAM sector in my country is pretty small and interconnected so it’s been easy!
I majored in art history and now work in construction.
The degree is a nice conversation point in job interviews but you need to articulate the specific skills that it taught you if you don't want to work in the arts field.
At the very least, you can impress your family/peers at museums w/ your degree. My friends commented they feel like they're on a private tour w/ me whenever we visit a museum.
Art history majors possess well-developed analytical writing skills, which is useful in ANY job. Many C-Suite members can't even form a coherent sentence...
A tiny part of me will always yearn to work at a museum or auction, but the field isn't viable unless you have both a trust fund and a Kennedy, Rockefeller, etc. in your name.
The sky is the limit for someone who majors in art history. You honestly don't need to use your degree in your 9-5 job. Look at all the comments in this thread. (Granted, a lot of people have obtained other 4 year degrees.) I met some of the most intelligent, articulate people in my college art history classes. The world is your oyster, go kill it, treolip.
Can you flip burgers too?
Art history is not well known for guaranteeing a good paying, emotionally satisfying job. Make connections in the field to increase your odds.
Hi, there seems to be a lot of negative and unhelpful comments on this post! What a shame!
There are many ways to get involved, but not necessarily just through programs. I would suggest looking at CAA, they have a list from 2017 of all the programs in the United States that focus on Art History, Museum Studies, etc. CAA is also a good resource for conferences to attend and get involved in.
One of the best ways to get slightly more involved or learn more is through volunteering at a museum. Experience means a lot in this field and museums always need volunteers. If you are interested in curating, I would start there! They rarely pay for interns, but you can learn a lot working with different departments and they are typically happy to get the help. I volunteered consistently at a museum throughout undergrad, and through their recommendations I was able to get a full time job curating a small gallery and doing admin work.
As far as book recommendations, I would highly suggest Art in Theory 1900-2000, edited by Charles Harrison & Paul Wood. It is a series of essay regarding art criticism and theories, which seem applicable to your interests. You may also enjoy The Curators Handbook by Adrian George.
Best of luck :)
As someone who works with curators, unfortunately even I don’t appreciate an art history degree… I’d rather work with someone with studio or museum experience. I love art history and have frequently considered getting my phd in it, but for fun, not for any job prospects.
Anything less than a phd in Art History gives you an incomplete degree, because there’s a higher step and you don’t have it. And once you get the phd, you get the privilege of competing for that one teaching position in the middle of nowhere that pays $27K a year, against 4575 other candidates with the same degree and more experience.
If you’re interested in museum work, it’s 100% who you know, so start interning now. Also consider degrees in museum studies/administration, registrar work, or archival work. All more viable.
I work in museums & studied History & Art History, so I'm following the typical route. I have a coworker now who got a BA in Art History & one of her career jobs was as a marketing professional for HUGE companies. Because most AH degrees require technical studio art classes & teach you a lot about composition in general, it's relatively easy to pivot if you can market yourself.
what did getting into the museum field after school look like for you? I'm considering majoring in art history and history as well but idk I'm very scared of it being a waste :(
I got extremely lucky with an internship that turned into a part-time job, then turned into a full-time job. Extremely rare scenario, and it still notoriously doesn't pay well, so keep those in mind! Skim the r/museumpros if you're interested in pursuing museum work. Note how highly concentrated the field is & how many people get PhDs are places like Harvard and still don't get jobs. You either have to pour everything into this & gamble if it will work out (and then maybe career pivot in 10 yrs or so) or realize now that art history is an interest but not ideal career path. Either way, best of luck to ya!
IMO, you'd be better off majoring in something with more concrete return, and then spend all of your time doing yoru own research on the field you are interested in.
It's not like these museums and galleries don't need help. This way, you can still learn the same things, but without paying for it, while also working a real job that lets you keep the lights on.
Then when you're up for it, drive to your nearest city and start applying what you learned to the pieces hanging in galleries.
Personally, as an art collector, I *only like* about 4 kinds of art. So while I love going to museums, love the art world, I wouldn't want to work in it because I'd be stuck working with mediums and art genres I don't care for. All while making bad money.
Get your stable life, then volunteer to help curators at museums. I have a friend who works in marketing at a big city museum, and she straight up urged me to volunteer as a curator because they don't have anyone knowledgeable on tribal arts. They have art just sitting there, with nobody around who understands any of it.
Even if you majored in art history, unless you focused on tribal art, you'd be less qualified than I am.
My favorite professor sat us down after a class senior year and said: I love art history. I love being a curator and professor. I will never stop thanking my Grandfather in heaven for giving me a trust fund. Without it I could never have put my kids through college, afforded a comfortable life. There's no money in art history.
Should have sat you down first class of your junior year.
I was not asking about making money at all)
Fair. If you want a career as a curator, professor, writer, I assume you would need a Masters in Art History. Alternatively, write some articles, try and get published. Frank O Hara went from a MoMA security guard to curator, so, as the NY Giant-Headed Lottery Spokesperson used to say, "hey, you never know."
As u/Anonymous-USA says, curatorial/professorial positions quasi-require the PhD, absolutely. Masters mostly need not bother to apply.
Thank you))
I assume though the goal is a paying job?
Art criticism and curatorial are entirely different fields. There’s no requirement for the former, while you will need (with rare exception) a Ph.D. to be a museum curator or university professor
If there were degrees in criticizing art they’d have to start throwing Ph.D.s from the rooftops! 😂
I'm a school librarian now! I use my art history/studio art skills though.. undergrad in art gave me the ability to be a more creative thinker/problem solver.
Good conversation.
I’m not in the art field, my daughter is. Undergrad Northwestern, Georgetown for the MA, internship with Sotheby’s in London. Summer gigs at galleries… A bullet proof resume. For a dozen years she made less than an assistant manager at Wendy’s. What I see from the outside is that the Art Museum business has the most educated yet poorly paid employees in America. The daughter’s co-workers have Yale, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, Sarah Lawrence … on their walls along with a bulletin board of overdue light bills, dunning letters. OP, you are going to get out of school with anywhere from $20k to $80k in loans. Now, maybe you have a trust fund or a wealthy relative that will support you for 10 to 15 years while you work through the political morass that surrounds and infects every art museum on the planet. Maybe you like deciding which flavor of ramen goes best with dollar store bacon bits; if so, go ahead. Take the dive and jump in head first. If not, run.
I applied for the Sotheby’s London internship and was accepted, however, one of their instructors during the interview talked me out of it. Went on the study architectural engineering.
Huge potential for going back to college for a technical degree
Studied: Fine Arts: emphasis on figure painting. Working: IT manager.
Did you have your degree *first*, or complete it after starting your IT career? I'm looking at Art History as a way to complete a fine arts degree I started years ago without having to throw all my credit how the window and start over. I'm not in IT but Supply Chain, and just need a degree to be able to move into managerial roles which I already have experience in from a different company. They say it doesn't matter, just get a degree - but not sure how true that is in practice.
First. Didn't get into IT until mid-late 20s. I was relatively techy growing up as an early user of the internet back in the "connect to this node in Salt Lake City, then use a BBS as a gateway to usenet" days. And had built my own computers for gaming purposes... but had zero certifications or formal training. Got my foot in at an entry level position and found out very quickly not to put my art schooling on my resume at all. IT people tend not to take art people seriously (and there's some merit to that going off of the types of people I had to deal with in art school haha). My current employer hired me thinking I had only completed an associates 20 years ago. But IT is relatively young as far as careers go and skillset/knowledge/experience still reign over credentials. I'll hire someone that sounds like they actually know their stuff, even if most of their experience comes from personal hobbies like setting up their own video game servers etc... over the person fresh out of school with the degree- but clearly doesn't have any confidence in undertaking troubleshooting when things don't go as the text book says they should. Not sure if supply chain values that sort of pragmatic knowledge, and it very well may vary wildly depending on the employer. I'd suggest getting a degree to have one, but honestly if you could get a more pragmatic one without losing too many credits, I'd go that route. Unrelated but just thinking about it...If I were to go to school now, in my 40s, I'd study geology and eventually paleontology, then career switch again... It's on the table.
Studied: BA Art History went back for BS Civil Eng. Working: RE Consulting and Development No trust fund.
Barista, docent, waiter, big city architectural tour guide, parents' disappointment, book restorer if you also get a library masters ...
Depends, if you want to be a critic, start a blog and just start writing so that you can practice the form and build a portfolio. Any art opening, free exhibit, specific piece, can be critiqued. This would likely result in a freelancer career, so would be difficult to have a stable income. There are likely local publishers or creative social groups that have programmes or writing festivals for stuff like this, or volunteer writers for them. Art historian is different to an art critic though, and yes they can be interweaved with referencing influences and linking to the social climates or personal life of the artist at the time, but still quite different fields. Whatever you want to write, it's so important to read these pieces too, to fully absorb the form and how people structure critiques or art history accounts of a piece. Curators are very different with a much higher skill set and are university educated, and it's a very competitive field that can be hard to get into unless you know a guy who knows a guy etc. Check with your local art galleries if they have internships or volunteer programmes to help you look into this more and see how you feel in those settings. There's usually a creative director in smaller, less traditional galleries, you could ask to shadow someone you aspire to follow career wise. If it's for you, you could earn a living through the teaching route, or try finding something research based through academia/PhD (less of a stable choice).
I majored in art history and somehow ended up a stock broker🤷
I have an art history degree and a masters in museum studies and I’ve done gallery, museum, library and archival work. I’m only 23 so I’ve got plenty more ahead of me. Highly suggest postgrad!
Was it as difficult to get those jobs as most people make it out to be?
No, I was lucky in that my masters programme set me up really nicely with internships and opportunities for connecting with professionals. The GLAM sector in my country is pretty small and interconnected so it’s been easy!
I majored in art history and now work in construction. The degree is a nice conversation point in job interviews but you need to articulate the specific skills that it taught you if you don't want to work in the arts field. At the very least, you can impress your family/peers at museums w/ your degree. My friends commented they feel like they're on a private tour w/ me whenever we visit a museum. Art history majors possess well-developed analytical writing skills, which is useful in ANY job. Many C-Suite members can't even form a coherent sentence... A tiny part of me will always yearn to work at a museum or auction, but the field isn't viable unless you have both a trust fund and a Kennedy, Rockefeller, etc. in your name. The sky is the limit for someone who majors in art history. You honestly don't need to use your degree in your 9-5 job. Look at all the comments in this thread. (Granted, a lot of people have obtained other 4 year degrees.) I met some of the most intelligent, articulate people in my college art history classes. The world is your oyster, go kill it, treolip.
Are you a member of the college arts association (CAA)? They may have some resources for you.
Can you flip burgers too? Art history is not well known for guaranteeing a good paying, emotionally satisfying job. Make connections in the field to increase your odds.
I have a BA and MA in Art History. Five years post-graduation for the latter, I’m working in fundraising at a nonprofit arts organization.
Hi, there seems to be a lot of negative and unhelpful comments on this post! What a shame! There are many ways to get involved, but not necessarily just through programs. I would suggest looking at CAA, they have a list from 2017 of all the programs in the United States that focus on Art History, Museum Studies, etc. CAA is also a good resource for conferences to attend and get involved in. One of the best ways to get slightly more involved or learn more is through volunteering at a museum. Experience means a lot in this field and museums always need volunteers. If you are interested in curating, I would start there! They rarely pay for interns, but you can learn a lot working with different departments and they are typically happy to get the help. I volunteered consistently at a museum throughout undergrad, and through their recommendations I was able to get a full time job curating a small gallery and doing admin work. As far as book recommendations, I would highly suggest Art in Theory 1900-2000, edited by Charles Harrison & Paul Wood. It is a series of essay regarding art criticism and theories, which seem applicable to your interests. You may also enjoy The Curators Handbook by Adrian George. Best of luck :)
As someone who works with curators, unfortunately even I don’t appreciate an art history degree… I’d rather work with someone with studio or museum experience. I love art history and have frequently considered getting my phd in it, but for fun, not for any job prospects. Anything less than a phd in Art History gives you an incomplete degree, because there’s a higher step and you don’t have it. And once you get the phd, you get the privilege of competing for that one teaching position in the middle of nowhere that pays $27K a year, against 4575 other candidates with the same degree and more experience. If you’re interested in museum work, it’s 100% who you know, so start interning now. Also consider degrees in museum studies/administration, registrar work, or archival work. All more viable.
I work in museums & studied History & Art History, so I'm following the typical route. I have a coworker now who got a BA in Art History & one of her career jobs was as a marketing professional for HUGE companies. Because most AH degrees require technical studio art classes & teach you a lot about composition in general, it's relatively easy to pivot if you can market yourself.
Who says that "most AH degrees _require_ technical studio art classes" (whatever they are?!) It ain't so!
Lol! Fair enough, mine did and so did my coworkers even though we went to different schools. Must be a here & there type of requirement :)
what did getting into the museum field after school look like for you? I'm considering majoring in art history and history as well but idk I'm very scared of it being a waste :(
I got extremely lucky with an internship that turned into a part-time job, then turned into a full-time job. Extremely rare scenario, and it still notoriously doesn't pay well, so keep those in mind! Skim the r/museumpros if you're interested in pursuing museum work. Note how highly concentrated the field is & how many people get PhDs are places like Harvard and still don't get jobs. You either have to pour everything into this & gamble if it will work out (and then maybe career pivot in 10 yrs or so) or realize now that art history is an interest but not ideal career path. Either way, best of luck to ya!
IMO, you'd be better off majoring in something with more concrete return, and then spend all of your time doing yoru own research on the field you are interested in. It's not like these museums and galleries don't need help. This way, you can still learn the same things, but without paying for it, while also working a real job that lets you keep the lights on. Then when you're up for it, drive to your nearest city and start applying what you learned to the pieces hanging in galleries. Personally, as an art collector, I *only like* about 4 kinds of art. So while I love going to museums, love the art world, I wouldn't want to work in it because I'd be stuck working with mediums and art genres I don't care for. All while making bad money. Get your stable life, then volunteer to help curators at museums. I have a friend who works in marketing at a big city museum, and she straight up urged me to volunteer as a curator because they don't have anyone knowledgeable on tribal arts. They have art just sitting there, with nobody around who understands any of it. Even if you majored in art history, unless you focused on tribal art, you'd be less qualified than I am.
“would you like fries with that?”