So often we hear people putting down the art major, whether they be fellow students or adults around them. There is absolutely no reason to make their major inferior to the rest because it is art.
Don’t belittle the art major. Any sort of art major is difficult. Artists put in hours, weeks, months, and years into their work. One drawing for homework can take upwards of 8 hours alone, and a “quick” project will likely take a couple of days to complete. Let’s not even talk about a Senior Showcase, because some students start planning those years in advance. But art majors have deadlines, and a project that would take a couple of days to complete will have to be skillfully finished in one day. This means pulling all-nighters or only getting a couple of hours of rest, if possible.
So many artists log more time creating their art than they do logging hours of sleep. They run on an abundance of coffee and hopeful daydreams of getting some rest. If the work is not complete by the given deadline you can bet that the art professor will be upset. Really upset. Not only that, but the critique won’t be as useful to the artist since the project is incomplete. It’s easier to half-ass an essay, and nearly impossible to do the same with an art project. That’s not to say that other majors have it easier; each one has its own set of difficulties.
Don’t belittle the art major. A lot of people figure that art is easy just because the students have a knack for creating interesting work. Making art comes naturally to the student, therefore they must be breezing through their studies. Wrong. Making art is challenging whether it be a new technique that one is using while painting, or fearlessly trying out a different style of work on the wheel.
Most art students take at least four different art classes in one semester, and each class is demanding on its own. Four classes, each usually being at least 2.5 hours long, means that they are in the studio for 20 hours if they have each class twice a week, and that’s not even counting in the overtime that is put in just to complete a piece. Each piece for the four classes will take over 8 hours to finish, which means that the student is logging 32 hours if they were to complete a project a week for their separate courses. But that is usually not the case. A student often has multiple pieces due for each course during the week, which only increases their time in the studio. Not counting the multiple projects for each class already puts the student at 52 hours in the studio. Once the amount of time to finish a piece is added into the mix, the time only increases.
Don’t belittle the art major. They have a passion for what they are doing, and one of the worst possible things that someone can do is tell that individual that their passion is pointless. Artists are well aware that the field is competitive, but they have a drive and they are willing to throw themselves into the mix. That speaks a lot about their character because they are not afraid of the uncertainty that comes with the field.
The art major is just as difficult as any other field of study, so again—please, don’t belittle the art major.
