If your child was planning on studying Art/Fine Art at Uni, would you advise them against it due to lack of job prospects (and AI)?

[NewYearNewBear]

Just that really.
My daughter loves art and is studying it as an A level subject and wants to study fine art at University.
She got an 8 at GCSE exam.

She thinks she can become a portrait artist and doesn't seem to want to consider related carers like graphics etc.
Would you advise them against studying Art even though it's probably the only thing they are passionate about?

Tough one. Probably dissuade them, yes.

But I wouldn’t be against them doing something more usable, degree wise.

Please don’t dissuade her. Child of immigrant parents who dissuaded her from persuing fine art (which would have required a foundation year) and pushed her into conventional course (like Politics, Philosophy). I didn’t graduate, did some sales-y roles for a bit and have never worked since.

I loved Art and sadly still hold the resentment of not being able to pursue it. Careers could be myriad - my cohort became creative/art directors at magazines, fashion houses, artists in residence, teachers, conservationists, illustrators, set up on their own, photographers. Other options are art therapy, working in galleries/museums, she could do online courses, run workshops, holiday clubs. Yes they are all competitive but show me an industry that isn’t?

She will have the opportunity to pivot (graphic design, marketing, UI design, interiors) with additional courses if her calling doesn’t work out.

Why do we encourage consumption of the arts but never value the training required to produce it? The world has enough people doling out ‘professional services’ in the form of lawyers, accountants, management consultants etc.

I wish her a long, illustrious career that makes her ridiculously happy and you the pride and elation in watching her flourish.

Yes, as others have said, a foundation year is going to give her an idea if she wants to do it.

Also, I would get her to do a lot of research into what artists who make a living are actually doing with their time. This video is a bit older, but she's very good at explaining how much time is actually spent making art (spoiler: not that much):

She'll need a lot of skills in social media, marketing, self-promotion, SEO, admin, accounting, etc. to get work and make money from it. She might actually be better doing some kind of marketing type course, rather than art and topping up with private portrait courses.

You could also look a little bit outside the box. If she really wants to do portraits and if you will be funding her studies, you could look at a gap year and suggesting combining earning some money and doing some of the short courses or a foundational year in one of the Florence ateliers, for example (or there is one in Edinburgh, not the same climate though!)

I've done portrait-specific short courses at https://www.edinburghatelieroffineart.com/short-courses-and-workshops and https://charlescecilstudios.com/short-courses/ and they were amazing.

She could also combine with online OU/LSE etc. online digital marketing courses.

That all costs a lot of money, but then so does a degree!

If your daughter has a passion for Art, encourage it and she may have a wonderful time at uni. It's not all about STEM.

Out of interest you haven’t worked since your degree? How long and how come?

I am the child of immgrant parents who let my DD follow her passion, which she now regrets. She wishes she had done a law degree like I suggested. She may retrain but I feel parents can't win in this economy.

If I’d have done law etc I’d be absolutely balling now instead of barely above minimum wage haha 😭

No. I don't think the sole purpose of further education is to prepare for employment. But it would be reasonable to suggest that she does the sums and researches what she can realistically hope to earn and how long she will be paying back her student loan.

Posh people who do these degrees know they can use their parents/friends contacts to get a job in something totally different afterwards so it doesn’t matter

Rich kids say they’re an ‘artist’ or ‘musician’ when they’re really unemployed on the payroll of mum and dad haha

Yes, I would definitely discourage this unless you as a family are already very wealthy.

Art is more than a job prospect - it is a cultural spring - it feeds our souls. Whatever she does to earn money in the future, this will stand her in good stead as she goes forward in life.

My DD is in her first year of an art degree, albeit not fine art. She didn't need to do a foundation year first.
She's aware how difficult it is to make a living from. She got 8s and 9s at everything at GCSE but is most passionate about art, and no amount of persuasion would steer her to do something else. Both DH and I work in a creative industry and it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to pursue something artistic. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her career/earning prospects though.

This is what I think . If you know you are going to be a minimum wage slave for the rest of your life then why not do a degree in the arts especially if you know you will never pay your student loan back . I know someone doing a degree in performing arts . If she wasn't doing that degree she would be in a shop part time on less than Minimum wage( for her age ) . So why not spend three years having fun .

Without doubt she should do an art foundation. I believe everyone should do an art foundation though (sorry).

Remember an art foundation course is one more year of FREE EDUCATION. we get free education until you'r e19 in UK and unless you retook an A Level year (like my DS sadly) you won't be paying for art foundation.

Art foundation is one year and lets you try all the arts and design subjects. you try them all out and then specialise for a term. fine art, sculpture, photography, textiles, graphic design, digital design and so on. There will also be contextual studies with lectures on art and design and culture. This is great learning opportunity. It widens horizons for anyone and helps creative people find what they want to specialise in.

Best thing for an 18 year old - nobody needs to go to uni at 18 - esp with a free year of education on offer

What a great post @ChilliconBluey

It is really sad how many people here would discourage a passion because it won't pay enough.

I've made a great living from my artwork (admittedly it is VERY commercial). If she is genuinely talented and driven I'd say it is a perfectly viable way to live.

If she really really loves it, I'd be happy with her doing it.

It's all very well for some people to be saying do STEM or they'll only pay for STEM, but that doesn't suit everyone.

Even if you are a mature student a year long foundation or access course is usually required for an arts degree.

This is a very sensible approach. My parents did similar with me back when I was at uni, i.e. only agreed to help out with university costs if I did something like STEM/medicine/law/economics etc. I didn't do my 'dream' degree for that reason but out in the real world I soon realised it's more important to have a useful degree and you can follow your passions in your free time, which becomes much easier if you have a stable, well paid job.

Will the portraits pay enough for her to support and house herself?
Have you looked into how much you'll have to contribute to her degree, and how much debt she'll be signing up for? The figures are horrific.

I was discouraged to do the university course that I wanted to do because "it's not for people like us". I truly believe this attitude is toxic and is one of the reasons my self esteem is so low. My son has decided he would like to pursue a career in animation and I will be right there to support him through the highs and lows he has the talent and drive. Surely we must let our children at least try and if they fail you support them and guide them but to shut them down before they even get a chance is crazy.

I can give them lots of support and unconditional love whilst they earn a good salary with no student loans...

or

I can give them lots of support and unconditional love whilst they earn an average salary, with student loans.

My dd is also doing an art based degree and is worried about AI. The tutors are doing their best to help all their students navigate this. DD was very academic but she wasn't interested in anything else at degree level and she is talented so we supported her choice. It's helped by the fact her older sibling is also creative and quite successful in her field so she knows it is possible!

To be honest, AI will not only steal creative jobs, it will also take jobs in every other field/industry, I have family in law and finance, and have heard stories about many jobs especially in the junior level going to AI. It's weird that Governments across the world are not trying to address this. I don't think AI will create enough jobs to replace the losses and talk of a universal basic income seems to have died off too.

It’s actually not. You dont even need any formal qualifications, my course mate had none but got in on talent and experience as a mature student aged 27,