You’ve been working for Pixar for half a decade when you’re randomly laid off along with 170 of your colleagues. So what? You can just use your skills to work as an independent artist online or something, right? Well, not exactly.

Making a living as an artist is challenging, whether you’re a high school student looking into kicking off your career or even a professional artist who has been working in the field for years.  

“I’m definitely anxious. I just don’t really know where I’m gonna end up,” said Finley Egan, a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School and aspiring professional industrial/freelance artist. 

There is plenty of justification for such worry. 

While the art market does have a lot of potential, American art critic Blake Gopnik has stressed that “artists who were selling for a ton are now selling for a third or a quarter of what they were getting just a few years ago.” He also stated that art galleries of all statuses are closing. 

This may seem like a huge negative for the art market, but take this news of decline with a grain of salt. Gallery art will not die out any time soon and is still a very realistic path for artists with good persistence and work ethic. Also, keep in mind what is truly causing this decline.

Some factors that were out of everyone’s control, such as COVID-19, definitely contributed to the decline. At the same time, artists are exploring new media, especially as technology changes. There is much more opportunity than you might think, and that the art industry is always evolving and open.

Taking advantage of those opportunities takes independence and perseverance. Tracy Van Duinen, a long time art teacher and artist at OPRF, said he looks for students who “show desire to be in the arts, those who have a sketchbook and go and [do] art on their own.”

This is obviously one of the most crucial parts in wanting a career in the arts. Actually sitting down and putting in the hours with a passion is how every professional artist starts out. It’s a brutal pill to swallow, but art cannot be learned overnight.

When asked about his thoughts on the art industry right now, with problems like generative AI and mass layoffs, Van Duinen said, “What I think is going to happen is that, people are going to see the difference between a human being creating something and thinking about the project, versus pumping things into AI and having it spit something back out.” 

At the same time, he noted that AI is here to stay. “People are definitely going to have to consider it always and figure out how to use it,” he said. “It’s just like before when photography came along, which took a lot of work away from artists, but artists started realizing we can utilize that for an art form.”

So far, generative AI is making it harder to find authentic artwork and easier to steal from artists. But despite the hard times the industry is going through, senior Kaspian Murray still aspires to a career as an artist and industrial designer. “I’m confident that I’ll be able to be up there among the best if I really work hard enough for it,” he said. “So I’m definitely going to pursue it as my end goal.”