When I was getting my MFA, I figured I was going to do one of two things – either become a university professor or start my own business. And I was fortunate enough, upon graduating, to get a one year position as a Visiting Assistant Professor.
And I always say that the most important thing I learned in that year is that I didn’t want to be a university professor.
Since that year, I focused on building my own business, which consists of two parts – selling my jewelry (the thing I imagined I’d be doing as someone running my own business) and teaching online classes.
It’s now been ten years since I started teaching classes online through my own website and eight years since I walked away from academia (I had been teaching on and off as an adjunct after my one year of being full time) and I haven’t once regretted those choices.
And now, as universities face another uncertain semester, with some or all learning taking place online, I think it’s time we really had a conversation about whether or not universities are truly the best place to teach, or learn, art.
In the interest of full disclosure, I think it’s important to note that the majority of my online teaching has centered around teaching business skills to artists and makers – something universities have been loathe to teach anyway. But I have taught some online classes that focused on making art, not just selling it, and I’ve helped other artists do the same through my class Do/Teach.
I should also add that I don’t think my word is law on this. Instead, I want to start a conversation about the role universities play in the teaching and learning of art, and how this might change and evolve into the future.
So first off, let’s tackle the question, are universities still the best place to teach art?
From a purely financial standpoint, I’m going to argue that they aren’t. After accounting for expenses, the money I make from teaching online rivals the money I would make as a mid-career academic. And it’s a small fortune compared to what I made as an adjunct.
That’s especially true when you factor in the time per class. Because teaching online is more leveraged than teaching in person at a university (and because almost the entirety of a students payment is going to me as the teacher) I am able to make much more money in the same amount of time. Especially when you consider the fact that I don’t have to grade.
And none of this is to say that I’m not hands on with my students. In the classes I teach on my own platform, and in my online mentorship program, I personally answer every question that students have and I make it a point to get to know and understand my students as much as possible. I still ask students to submit work and I do give feedback, I just don’t offer formal grades, and students get to choose whether or not they share with me or ask questions. (Some students are much more involved than others.)
Online courses (especially online business and marketing courses) have gotten a bad wrap for charging lots of money for little to no instructor feedback. But my business/teaching model is proof that it doesn’t have to be that way. And because I take this more hands on approach, I’m able to build relationships with my students that aren’t too dissimilar to the relationships I built when teaching in person at a university.
Then there’s the lifestyle factor. Pursuing a career in academia often involves job hopping around the country in an attempt to get a full time teaching job. Not to mention meetings, committees, and the stress of applying for tenure. Or it means stringing together a series of classes as an adjunct (often at multiple schools) as adjuncts now make up the vast majority of university teaching jobs.
Now to be fair, teaching online does come with its share of non-teaching tasks. Part of my job is marketing and selling my classes, which has meant building an audience. But the ways that I’ve done that (writing this blog, being a guest on podcasts, and growing my email list) are certainly preferable (at least to me) over pointless bureaucratic meetings and applying for jobs again and again.
And, because I’m teaching online, I get to live wherever I want, with no pesky commute. (I also have the ability to travel at any time of the year, something I couldn’t do when teaching at a university.)
For many university trained artists, especially those with an MFA, teaching at a university is heralded as the career path with the most financial stability. But as more universities swap full time, tenure track positions for an army of adjuncts, that’s simply not true anymore.
Now don’t get me wrong. There are certainly things I miss about teaching at a university. I miss having a fully stocked studio with tools that I have no reason to buy for myself, but that I get to play with nonetheless. And, Covid aside, I do miss interacting in person with students. I even miss critiques. (Though I will never miss grading.)
But for me, the pros far outweigh the cons, and I no longer have the desire to teach at a university. (So much so that two different universities within an hour of my house had open positions for metalsmithing professors in the last number of years and I didn’t apply for either one.)
Why teach in a system that doesn’t support or appreciate me when I can create my own teaching opportunities and provide a better (or at least equivalent) experience for my students at a fraction of the price?
So in case it wasn’t clear, I’ve made my choice. I no longer think that a university is the best place to teach art.
But that brings me to the second part of my question:
Are universities still the best place to learn art?
I should preface my thoughts on this by saying that I love school. I probably would have stayed in school forever if it weren’t for that fact that the MFA is a terminal degree and that my husband figured seven years of higher education was plenty and maybe I should think about making money instead of spending more on school. (Heck, this blog even started because I told a friend I wanted to go get my MBA and she replied with “you could teach that stuff!”)
And obviously I did study art at a university, which does impact my perspective on this subject.
Honestly, I loved my time in art school. Well, as much as one can love anything that at times is also incredibly stressful and challenging. Still, I wouldn’t change that experience for the world.
But the university has changed a lot in the seventeen years since I got my BFA and the fourteen years since I got my MFA.
I was also fortunate to graduate from undergrad without any debt. (I had an academic scholarship that paid for not quite a third of my overall costs and my parents paid the rest.) This made it easier to take on some debt to attend graduate school. (Which I also didn’t pay for in full, because I had a teaching assistantship and tuition waivers for teaching classes as an adjunct.)
But costs have risen sharply since then, and while I don’t believe in the starving artist myth – I firmly believe that these is good money to be made in the arts – starting your working life hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt makes it really difficult to take some of the risks often required to start your own creative business.
Which is probably why more of the artists I coach who have started businesses aren’t coming directly from art school, but from years of being in the work force. (And many never attended art school at all.)
Sure, there are things about being in art school that are wonderful. There’s the camaraderie of your peers and the dedicated time to focus on developing your art or craft.
There’s getting to learn from talented teachers who can help you spot your mistakes in real time. (This is especially helpful in more skill-based art practices.)
There’s having a studio stocked with equipment and ready to go.
Though of course, you can get these last two at a good community arts center or even by taking private lessons.
There’s also the ability to explore topics and issues and have critical discussions, though there’s no reason we can’t more of this type of learning happening online, outside of the art school environment. (It’s something I’m putting on my own list to develop in the near-ish future. But it’s also something I’d like to see more artists – especially those with university backgrounds – teach online as well.)
So ultimately, when it comes down to it, there are ways to replicate a lot of the experiences of art school, whether that’s in community learning centers or online.
Now honestly, if you’re planning on attending a university no matter what, and your passion is for the arts, then I say be an art major. You’ll learn critical thinking skills and have a much more personal and hands on experience over majors where you just sit in lecture halls all day. And when it comes right down to it, a degree is a degree. (No matter what schools try and tell you.)
But if your goal is simply to become an artist, then you can honestly do that without a degree. Take classes online and in your local community. Go to workshops. Watch videos. Try shit out. Use up all your vacation days or save up to take a sabbatical from your job to devote yourself to your art for an extended period of time.
Universities don’t hold a monopoly on artistic knowledge, and they aren’t worth going into that much debt for, at least not anymore.
Basically, a university is only the best place to learn art if you were already planning to go anyway and you have the privilege to graduate with little to no debt.
Otherwise, there are plenty of other, and potentially even better, ways to learn art.
And if you are an artist without a university degree, stop letting that make you feel insecure. Art existed long before university art degrees, and I have a feeling it will last long after they’re gone as well.
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In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m super passionate about encouraging artists to teach art outside of a university setting. That’s why I created my class Do/Teach! Not only does it cover all the technical aspects of running a class online, but it also helps you create the best possible course (and become the best teacher you can be) regardless of your own experience learning art. Because I know there’s such a need for this class right now, I’m keeping it at just $99 through the end of the year. Oh, and if you happen to teach at a university (whether that’s in person or are trying to figure out the online thing) Do/Teach can help with that too. Because good teaching is good teaching, no matter where it happens! Head to do-teach.com to join!