Imagine a world without art. Blank walls. Empty houses. Utter silence. The more you think about this unfathomable world, the duller it seems to get. The arts have always been a major factor in developing our culture through means of new creation, unimaginable propositions and lively details that make this world a bit more interesting. The world needs art to go on, and its inhabitants need art to grow, interact and love as one interconnected, incredible human race. 

Often, artists are discredited due to the idea that art is not necessary for the economic and social cycles that keep our society churning. Jobs in the field of art are difficult to find, artist’s salaries are typically low, and a staggering cost for enrollment at a university dissuade the aspiring artist and push the college student to explore other majors and future careers. In today’s society, students pursuing the degree in fine arts face challenges and criticism from others. As an active member in the arts community and an aspiring art teacher, studying the fine arts in college is not a choice in my mind. My family and friends are reluctant to send me off into such an unwieldy field, but I have no doubt in my mind that getting a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts will impede or hinder my overall expansion into adulthood. In a field seen as so unstable financially, it is difficult for one not to become unnerved with the arts and the current and future stability of the program. These nerves can easily become dissuaded when factoring in the current steady expansion in the field of art, the skills brought about by studying uncommon and exotic courses, and a large desire for those with careers dealing with and in the arts. Artists must continue to achieve a degree in the arts despite challenges in order to protect the field, their passions, and the need for invention and creation.

The job market for artists is often talked about as being unsteady. This statement may push aspiring artists away from their desired field, yet it is important to understand how the job field works. College graduates rarely begin working with a job inside their degree right after graduation. It takes time, hard work, and dedication to become ingrained in a desired area of work, thus giving alumni a few years to get settled into a job their major depicts. This period of down time consists of one or several jobs that may not deal closely with an individual’s study in university. Other majors may have trouble finding another job that is well enough in their skill range, yet artists have less of a problem working elsewhere. The pursuit of a degree in the arts leads to many benefits that can assist a graduate in careers both dealing with art and separate from the field all together. In a study conducted of numerous arts alumni, it is found that “forty percent of the individuals who write that their training is relevant to their work indicate that they use an aspect of their artistic or technical training in their current jobs” (Lindemann 12). This gives recently graduated students hope and inspiration, furthering their studies and pushing them to continue their pursuit of the arts.

Many arts alumni find difficulty when it comes to getting hired for an art job. The lack of careers in the field of art is not a good sign for our community as a whole: “the misemployment of graduates in the humanities is a sign of something grievously wrong with modern societies. It is evidence that we have no real clue what culture and art are really for” (The School of Life 1:22). Our culture today finds little use for workers such as poets, painters, historians, and so on. While this is upsetting, it is understandable. With the development of the internet, art is easily accessible. But the internet has also brought a lot of new art jobs with it, such as graphic design, three-dimensional printing, art technology, cinematography – the list goes on and on. The internet also brings about new and easier ways of communication between artists, thus spawning new ideas and new creations. So yes, while there is a decline in the old ways of art, new arts techniques are on the rise and are creating even more possibilities for artists around the world. 

With a constant decline in the arts by many public schools, many look at the arts program as a dying field, thus deeming it a waste of time for those seeking a degree in fine arts and those actively involved in the field. Instead of seeing artists as a waste of time, we need to start respecting the values and benefits their work brings to our children and their developing brains. According to a recent study, the correlation between the arts and student achievement provides the developing student with “reading and language skills, mathematics skills, thinking skills, social skills, motivation to learn, and a positive school environment” (Ruppert 10). These six major types of benefits provided by an individual’s involvement and progression in the arts programs gives way to a more rounded way and wholesome way of thinking. These six skill sets can be broken up into three types of learning blocks: academic learning, basic learning, and comprehensive learning.

The academic learning brought upon by studying the arts can be seen through several different approaches. Music and drama aids students in their reading and language proficiency by providing systematic ways to learn and absorb new information. These courses also assist in writing, through ways of pushing the student’s imagination and improving their story telling abilities. Music is closely related with mathematics skills by the student’s awareness of time and spacing. These results are proven through standardized testing, due to music’s heavy influence on fractions, ratios, and proportions.

Arts courses provide students with many skill sets that are considered basic for success in a school environment, a work place, and their futures. Visual arts, dance, and music all develop a unique way of thinking in terms of special relationships, composition, and imagination. These prepare children for the workplace and improve their out-of-the-box thinking. Social skills are developed by an increase in self-respect and dignity found through certain tasks, such as painting a picture or learning to play in instrument. Many studies have been conducted to prove this; one in particular describes “a group of boys, ages 8 to 19, living in residential homes and juvenile detention centers for at-risk youth, discovered that learning to play guitar and performing for their peers boosted their confidence and self-esteem” (Ruppert 14). This study is truly incredible because it shows the ability of the arts and the power the programs have over the development and improvement of the young. Transforming children from at-risk juveniles to confident, aware, mature people shows how dire the arts programs are needed in schools and must be instilled in children’s learning at the earliest stages possible in their lives. Another example of this ability to transform is shown through students from a low-income house. It is proven that “low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. as low-income students without those experiences” (Hawkins 2). This fact also spills into the final basic skill: the motivation to learn and an improvement in student’s attitudes towards school. These low-income students were inspired to achieve higher and draw more out of their schooling experience due to the arts in their curriculums. This inclination for school comes from the engagement, persistence, and risk-taking that art classes bring to student’s everyday life. The break from the monotonous teaching on subject students find boring spices up their day and brings them something to look forward to each day. Personally, I despised school until my sophomore year of high school. I had rarely participated in any after school activities and found school life dulling. It wasn’t until my tenth grade that I decided to become involved in the arts programs offered at my school, and I began enjoying school each day, looking forward to art class. By my senior year, I was taking two hours of art each day and was actively involved in many art clubs after school. Both my grades and my work ethic improved as a result of art class.

Finally, the comprehensive skills acquired from attending art classes are imminent. The inclusiveness that education in the arts demonstrates is every individual’s ability to create and perform. This provides comfort in students, as some may be better at science and history, while others will thrive in the more creative aspects of school. This builds a wholesome, sturdy school environment where every individual can flourish.

Art courses also make life easier for those with special needs. Students struggling with the structured environment of the classroom can find ways to express themselves through the visual arts and music classes. Art courses spawn multiple benefits to students with learning or physical impairments, such as independent decision-making, extended attention span, social skills development, and personal communication and connections through experiences (Andrus 16-17). The arts will open a world of possibilities for people who struggle with special needs. The right to expression and creativity should not be deprived of anyone, let alone those who already struggle with these themes.

In summation, the demand for art courses in the schools is extremely high. The development of our youth directly impacts our entire society, and those who learned the arts in their younger years have a well-rounded brain and a superior outlook on our world and how to better it. The current trend of cutting the fine arts from schools is not only saddening, it is ignorant. We need those who have studied art to teach those who have not, and without this opportunity, there is a gap missing in our youth and, thus, our community. The skills provided from studying art are numerous, and the possibilities for our society from those who have studied it are limitless. The arts are not a dying field; they are a developing one.

The strongest argument for those studying in the arts is the passion behind their work. Doing something that consumes one with excitement and intensity leads to better work and a deeper care for the output created. Scientists go into the field because of their natural curiosity for the unknown. Artists go into the field not for the money, not for the fame, but for the love of creation and inspiring others. These feelings all work together to trump the student loans, scary low job ratings and low income rates, putting them to rest and out of the picture. The correlation between income and happiness is a flexible one, as everyone has different ideas of happiness and financial stability. We do try and relate the two, and according to a recent study, “beyond household income of $75,000 a year, money ‘does nothing for happiness, enjoyment, sadness or stress’” (Korkki 1). Which makes you more content: a higher salary or working a job that you love and care for everyday? To each their own, but doing what one loves will create happiness, excitement, and zeal in one’s life, while money is perishable and only important until a certain extent.

Choosing a major is merely part of college. It affects your classes, course work, and deepens your knowledge in a particular area. Today, majors are viewed differently than they used to be. People see them as a much more serious, future-altering, predisposed part of education. As written by a columnist, “when I was in college in the 90’s, you were allowed to enjoy the experience – it was about being part of something, soaking up the campus, meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, and choosing to study something that excited you” (Kleimann 2). This is especially true today where colleges are extremely competitive and intense. When we step back and realize that getting a degree in a certain field is merely a widening of our understanding on a specific matter, it makes the entire college process feel more relaxed and open-ended. 

Creation is important to our culture. It is the basis of any culture. The most important artifacts found within ancient cultures often are works of art, telling stories about cultural practices and ways of living. Without culture, we become forgotten, unimportant, and bland. The contribution to the greater good is a way of integrating oneself into the community and sparking emotions from others. The feeling I get when I create something is like no other. Putting myself out into the world makes me vulnerable, yet never more alive. This paper, for instance, gets my words into the system for others to read, imagine, and inspire. This feeling drives me and possibly others to go out and experience even more things for themselves, thus creating more memories, intelligence, and imagination.

Still, some do not see the value in those studying the arts and spending money to teach something so interpersonal. These people view pursuing artists as something lower that the creationists that they are, deeming “the lure of the MFA is the lure of fame and fortune” (Neher 122). He is at fault for bias here, because while I am sure there are university art students striving for recognition and riches, there are others who are simply in it because art is what they love to do and all they want to do. Neher also goes on to say “the extravagant salaries and bonuses that fueled the last art boom are mostly things of the past. Wall Street has been decimated, the easy money is gone and galleries are closing at a rapid rate” (124). What Neher fails to realize is while there is a drop in galleries and payments going towards commissions made by artists, there is a staggering increase in art technology jobs such as graphic design and cinematography. The desire for workers in this field is highly valued and searched for, as they prove to be difficult jobs and require talented skills to operate and perform adequately. 

Student loans are another widely regarded pull on the negative outlook on a Master’s Degree of Fine Arts. Artists tend to struggle with earning a surplus of money, and the cost of studying art is extremely high, often higher than other fields of study due to cost of supplies and the numerous amount of courses. While this does drag the student into a pool of debt making it difficult to pay off with a low income, with enough perseverance and dedication these debts can and eventually will be paid off. This dedication becomes easier to manage if the individual works a job that they adore and look forward to every day. The reward received from creating, enjoying, and loving your job surpasses the amount of money needed to pay for an education in the program of your true passions.

The pursuit for a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts is a controversial one. In the end, it is up to each individual. It is affected by personal experiences, financial stability, and overall desire to learn the arts. The negative factors, such as student loans, low job rates, and low incomes dissuade some people from actively pursuing the degree, while others are pushed by the beneficial outcomes of getting a Master’s Degree in the Fine Arts. The demand for more careers in the field of art gives hope to aspiring artists, thus propelling the arts programs themselves. Our society needs culture to expand and develop, which can easily be brought about through art and creative works. The field is also expanding through the recent technological developments in the fields of graphic design, cinematography, and so on. We must keep creating and studying art because the current loss of artwork is synonymous with a current loss of our culture. The passion and drive to learn and work in the arts field trumps all monetary and career problems one would face if they truly enjoy and love working with and creating art.
