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Roberto Sayes

Holly Batty

English 101

24 May 2019

The World is a College Artist’s Blank Canvas

College artists are very relatable people in the sense that they have to meet deadlines for

assignments, they have personal lives where there’s too much going on, and every mild

inconvenience is detrimental to their state of being. Many of these young people perform

stressful balancing acts in order to maintain good grades and a job most often; it’s a very busy

and hectic lifestyle and can look overwhelming from an outsider's perspective but to most of

these people it’s just a normal routine. Going through college seems more difficult for these

individuals since they have a hard time finding work in their field which is unfortunate as a

majority of these folks are ambitious to make their mark on the world. But before they can even

think about that college artists have to go through many challenges to even get a degree in the

first place.

College artists have the opportunity to attend private institutions that focus and build

upon their skill and skills they want to pursue. These institutions offer all sorts of help and a

wide variety of classes for students. These places sound fantastic but like everything else, they

come with a caveat, and that is they aren’t everywhere and easily accessible like community

colleges and on top of that they are also ridiculously expensive. A survey from 2011 and 2012

which focused on issues relating to inequality in all arts training centers asked if experiences and

outcomes are equal for male/females, racial/ethnic groups, and graduates from privileged and
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underprivileged backgrounds. The results found that inequalities still persist in the arts and are

perhaps getting worse (Eric 10). Not only are these institutions not easily accessible and pricey

but the instructors are still treating students unfairly. They are being treated based on gender,

race, ethnicity, and even major. An artist facing such inequalities should complain about such

discrimination with a higher up considering that it should not be acceptable and it’s unforgivable

that discrimination is still going on and getting worse.

School is a helpful tool for getting people out into the world but the constant stress from

assignments and the duties from a potential job, can put a unnecessary levels of mental stress and

physical strain on a person. College artists, like many people, don’t show signs of stress

outwardly but simply keep it bottled up and go about as if everything is fine. In 2015, a study

was conducted where a group of counselors collected data from 830 students through several

means. They found that “Student artists did report that they had to handle something that was

traumatic or very difficult to handle…” (Greason 8). This further proves that school life can be

scary at times and often overwhelming which can take a toll on students mental health over time.

It may not be painfully obvious that an art student is going through something but chances are

with a busy workload and priorities other than school weighing on their shoulders they probably

are under a lot of stress. The best solution is to seek help and talk it out since most people tend to

keep their emotions and stress bottled up and let them fester which can result in thoughts of

suicide or a complete mental breakdown. College campuses often have psychologists on staff

who are certified to help people get through things by letting them open up. Sometimes letting it

all hang out can help ease the trauma or stress more than one may think.

As anyone can tell you college artists aren’t restricted to just learning painting or

drawing; the medium that is art goes further beyond that and into many other subgroups. For
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example, another form of art is photography and web design; the design on shirts people wear

had to have come somewhere. One of many mediums is painting and drawing which are

represented on a flat surface like a canvas or paper and maybe even applying color for a splash of

personality; another is sculpting where an artist can bring to mold statues that seem very lifelike

or hold a deep meaning; then there’s cinema and photography where an artist takes their camera

and the people before them will become their art through the beauty of film (ehow.com). There’s

these and many other ways for an artist to express their creativity as one can see, and there will

always be an interest in art to the point that these mediums may be around for forever. Not only

that but some college artists use some of these other mediums as a means of stress relief or as a

hobby to escape the worries of their busy school or work life. Reducing art to simply just

painting or drawing seems like a bit of an insult toward people who genuinely use these other

mediums as a means to escape their stress.

Many if not all artists look forward to finding some form of employment after finishing

their education. Although most artists these days choose to be self employed or freelancers since

it’s easier to be your own boss and keep everything you make from a job. Not only that but it just

doesn’t seem lucrative to have a normal job in whatever industry they’re employed in since their

job most of the time is just temporary. It may put food on the table and pay rent but it’s not

permanent which is scary. The following statement, “Creative industries careers are largely

individually navigated, often with minimal opportunity for stable employment or hierarchical

progression…” (White 3), proves that it’s indeed difficult for artists to find a job considering

they’re just going to be let go in probably a few months. This field is even scarier when you take

into consideration the fact that industries see artists as disposable and replaceable; this means

that when the job is done they can just let them go like nothing or if someone who can do another
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persons job better comes along then they’ll give it to them. It’s only normal to want to be your

own boss when you’re seen as expandable by an industry. Staying self employed is probably for

the best considering large industries don’t think these people matter and artists make more

connections through freelancing. Freelancing is probably a better stress free solution and the only

problems people usually deal with has to do with the clients, and even then you can choose to

drop a client who’s too vague or annoying.

Artists face stress constantly which is to be expected considering they have to deal with

too much around them. They have obligations such as school, their own well being, and careers.

These artists are capable of overcoming anything that comes their way and coming out the other

end as better people in the end. Those who need a little push aren’t worse than anyone else and

are as valid. Artists dealing with anxiety or trauma should seek help since there are people out

there qualified to help them and they shouldn’t have to fight their battle by themselves. Fighting

stress by oneself can be harrowing and having people on your side instead can be beneficial for

persons own health. Just because life, college, and work are challenges doesn’t mean that these

individuals have to face them alone.

Works Cited

“Different Mediums of Art.” EHow, Leaf Group, 23 May 2010,

www.ehow.com/list_6365754_different-mediums-art.html.
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Greason, D.Paige Bentley, et al. “Thinking Outside the Box: Psychological Needs of Art

Students Compared with Traditional Students.” Journal of College Student

Psychotherapy, vol. 29, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 53–71.EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&

AN=EJ1049753&site=eds-live.

Indiana University, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project. “An Uneven Canvas: Inequalities in

Artistic Training and Careers. Annual Report 2013.”Strategic National Arts Alumni

Project, Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, 1 Jan. 2013.EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&

AN=ED574454&site=eds-live.

White, Jason C. “Arts Students in Debt: Concerns, Consequences, and Interventions.” Arts

Education Policy Review, vol. 117, no. 1, Jan. 2016, p. 55. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&

AN=112335106&site=eds-live.