Career change to something more sensible with an arts degree, am I totally screwed?

@The Pentacle Queen,

The Pentacle Queen wrote:

Since I'm on this entrepreneurship course with my company this year, I've really really realised a lot of my presumtions were false, and it's helping unpick my notion of what creativity and innovation really are, and undo the dichotomy between 'creative' disciplines and 'uncreative' ones. I find management strategies super interesting, and that is business.

Yeah, there can be a TON of creativity in business. And even plenty of art in the marketing side of business. Advertising is further on the creative side of the spectrum (vs the analytical side) but if you define creativity as creating value where there previously was not any the business world is still full of plenty of it.

And at the highest levels (think things like the introduction of the iPhone to the world etc) the creativity in business is high-art. Art always has had to compromise itself for commercial viability anyway, even working as a pure artist has commercial compromise.

If you've gotten past swallowing that unfortunate truth about the world there are still plenty of outlets for creativity and art that are profitable.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

Such a good thread, pq, useful for at least some of us readers, clarifying.

I'll add the matter of politics within fields. As most on this thread know, I married a playwright and have never been sorry though we divorced after a long while, as we were ok on it fairly soon after - and as of yesterday when he emailed me re our now long ago anniversary. Snort, we got married on the Epiphany, neither of us religious.

Towards the end of our years together he got a nifty job for a city's cultural center; this including choosing all performers, recruiting performers of many sorts, putting on plays, once in a while one of them his own. Those were on occasions sort of political, where he would have people from the city be the actors, and use the actual words of some famous trials as part of the script. These were pretty popular, but I assume also brought touchiness to the city administrators.
That and his gaining in age got him dropped (I think). Younger than me, but still getting older.

So, what exactly? Nice to have some control over what you do get into, some flexability to move.

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@ossobuco,

Your post reminded me of my time in the USAF when I was stationed in New Mexico. I participated in the Roswell little theater - not as an actor, but working on the stage, stage hand, and even selling and taking tickets at the door. The one play we had that was very successful was the Caine Mutiny. Them were fun times.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

That's a great TED talk; thank you for that. Smile

PS I like the idea of finding art within a greater opportunity. It is definitely harder to 'quit your day job', or at least it takes far longer. Or maybe we all are just less interested in dying in little garrets in our 30s from consumption.

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@cicerone imposter,

Agree. I have whined on a2k about going to dozens or even hundreds of small plays (and being quiet since the (sometimes few) people in the audience in front of us might have been relatives of the actors...), but I did enjoy a lot of it.

This for example, but much more -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Campesino

They, Teatro Campesino, used to show up at the Fox Venice, a theater we saw innumerable movies at for little money. Good place.

Fox didn't used to be a name I rolled my eyes at.

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@ossobuco,

We had a FOX theater is Sacramento that used to have matinees for kids, and the cost was 3 bottle tops (pepsi?). We used to hang out at a neighborhood mom and pop grocery store (with a tv in the back room) where they had a soda cooler, and that's where we found or caps. Cool. Spent many hours there - even into the late evening hours. Even played hooky from school, and the daughter used to write my letter to the school of why I missed school. No wonder, I almost flunked out of school!

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@The Pentacle Queen,

I've known a number of entrepreneurs who consider it a creative act to found and build a business.

Performance experience can be pivoted to presentation skills.

Didn't you say you speak a Chinese language? That right there is a valuable skill.

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@DrewDad,

DrewDad wrote:

I've known a number of entrepreneurs who consider it a creative act to found and build a business.

I personally find it to be the greatest creative expression I know. Always different challenges and the brutality of facing extinction puts your back against the wall and if necessity is the mother of invention this seems to work well.

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@jespah,

jespah wrote:

PS I like the idea of finding art within a greater opportunity. It is definitely harder to 'quit your day job', or at least it takes far longer. Or maybe we all are just less interested in dying in little garrets in our 30s from consumption.

Do you mean like harder to find what's 'you' within the larger structure of a business? Like, you have to do the boring role for a bit and then you get to take on more fun ones?

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Such a good thread, pq, useful for at least some of us readers, clarifying.

I'll add the matter of politics within fields. As most on this thread know, I married a playwright and have never been sorry though we divorced after a long while, as we were ok on it fairly soon after - and as of yesterday when he emailed me re our now long ago anniversary. Snort, we got married on the Epiphany, neither of us religious.

Towards the end of our years together he got a nifty job for a city's cultural center; this including choosing all performers, recruiting performers of many sorts, putting on plays, once in a while one of them his own. Those were on occasions sort of political, where he would have people from the city be the actors, and use the actual words of some famous trials as part of the script. These were pretty popular, but I assume also brought touchiness to the city administrators.
That and his gaining in age got him dropped (I think). Younger than me, but still getting older.

So, what exactly? Nice to have some control over what you do get into, some flexability to move.

That's interesting. I think I guess you have to keep innovating and having different skills otherwise someone overtakes you. Basically being in a job industry that is over saturated is like swimming upstream, and having a job in demand is like swimming downstream I think.

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Thank you for all your posts it's been very helpful.
I have decided to read the following books:

A book on career advice for my personality type (ENTP) because apparently we are notorious for wanting to do everything and I think I just need to unlock something which has the same amount of creativity and diversity than in my current job.

This book, to help me understand whether I could just get a high paid second job and understand myself differently.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Person-Multiple-Careers-Original/dp/0615598714

This book, to help me rid myself of the idea that I am special, to help me see creativity elsewhere. (This is a generation Y thing, I think).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expectation-Hangover-Overcoming-Disappointment-Work/dp/1608682412

And then some kind of other book about understanding your life as art rather than the purpose of your life to be to make art. (Haven't found this book yet). Then I will report back.

pq x

1 Reply

@The Pentacle Queen,

The Pentacle Queen wrote:

This book, to help me rid myself of the idea that I am special, to help me see creativity elsewhere. (This is a generation Y thing, I think).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expectation-Hangover-Overcoming-Disappointment-Work/dp/1608682412

Uh, no.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

DrewDad wrote:

The Pentacle Queen wrote:
This book, to help me rid myself of the idea that I am special, to help me see creativity elsewhere. (This is a generation Y thing, I think).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expectation-Hangover-Overcoming-Disappointment-Work/dp/1608682412

Uh, no.

It is not a generation y thing?

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@The Pentacle Queen,

It's a being young thing.

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@DrewDad,

Thanks for the compliment. I still feel this way.

/dusts off Walkman/

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What about applying for the job as artistic director of the ENO? You certainly have a "broadly ranging knowledge of opera" and can "lead an artistic vision".
But you should hurry: applications close on Wednesday - get your skates on Wink

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@Walter Hinteler,

Hahhaha.
God I hope they pick someone good otherwise we're all fucked.

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GUYS I FOUND IT!!!!!! I am so happy. Thank you for anyone who contributed to this thread.
I wanted to share the answer with you!
The answer is that I am going to start working in music education, creating operatic social projects for kids, as that is where the money going nowadays and education is expanding to many other parts of the globe.
Basically it fits me perfectly because I can use all my opera experience, all my experience as a teacher and special needs worker and bring it all together and basically do what I am doing now but YOU GET PAID OMG. You get paid quite well too I think.
Also, this in no way rules me transferring to doing more 'straight' operatic work later on, in fact it often leads on, so it's an all round good thing!!
I've got a load of leads, I'm going to chase them up.
I want to be this lady, but not a composer:

http://hannahconway.co.uk/?page_id=11

Career change to something more sensible with an arts degree, am I totally screwed?

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