For job seekers with a degree in visual arts management, the top three employment career opportunities are art therapy, art administration and entrepreneurship. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “art therapy is a good career to embark on and the employment outlook is expected to grow as fast as or faster than average through 2020”. BLS indicates that new discoveries in art therapy have created outstanding opportunities for art therapists to practice in new environments and treat patients with diverse conditions. Art therapists usually work in various settings, some work in schools with students of all ages, meeting in groups or one-on-one. Other therapists work in community clinics and psychiatric hospitals, helping people …show more content…
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies arts administrators as art directors and states “the job opportunities for these professionals a little growth of approximately 2% between 2014 and 2024”. This type of work will involve fundraising, marketing, staffing, financial management and programming with skills in marketing and human resources, fundraising, budget and research. The BLS expects the opportunities for arts administrators to vary in different industries with a proposed increase for advertising, public relations and special services; motion picture and video industries; and specialized design services. However, according to BLS, little change in the publishing industry’s need for arts administrators over the decade is expected (www.bls.gov). Arts administrators usually hold a bachelor's degree with some earning advanced degrees which provide the skills needed in similar fields such as PR, design, and film. Entrepreneurship is the third opportunity for someone with a degree in arts management. With the skills learned in this concentration, the chance to develop your own business should easily present itself as a therapist or administrator. Small businesses that should be considered by arts management & entrepreneurship graduates include medical art therapy, marketing, public relations, development, operations, fundraising, curatorial, front-of-house and education departments of not-for-profit and for-profit arts
Junge, M. B. (2010). The modern history of art therapy in the united states. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
The American Academy of Art possesses an interesting background. Frank Young Sr. dreamt of creating a school that would “provide the best instructors, attract the best students, and neglect nothing that will help them to build successful careers.” In 1923, Young decided to turn his dreams into reality, thus creating The American Academy of Art (AAA). The school was originally designed as a school to offer Associate's Degrees in commercial arts, but with the help of the current owner and president of AAA, Richard H. Otto, the ‘Bachelor of Fine Arts Program’ was established in 1992 (“About the Academy”).
Turbide, Anne F. "Why Art Programs Are Beneficial to Students." The Synapse. N.p., 15 May 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.
Art therapists have experience in at least one previous field of knowledge such as: medicine, psychology, education, visual arts, or social work. They work in a variety of rehabilitation settings with a variety of issues including: mental health problems, learning difficulties, language and communication difficulties, imprisonment, medical problems, sensory or physical problems, stress, emotional and/or social problems. In a prison setting, a therapist is likely to encounter more than one of these issues with each client. Each of these contexts have their own requirements for rehabilitation. Art therapists define what they do by the context they are working in.
Art therapy uses media and the creative process in healing, the key word here being process. We all know how revealing the artwork of children can be of their emotions. Art therapy applies this concept across the spectrum in a multitude of situations. It functions in many of the same settings as conversational therapy: mental health or rehabilitation facilities, wellness centers, educational institutions, nursing homes, in private practices or in a client's home. An art therapist may work with an individual or group, in families or couples. While most therapy is based on conversation between the therapist and his or here client/s, art therapy integrates visual communication into th...
Also, after completing the number of post-graduate training hours, you may then take the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB) certification exam. The employment rate for this career is rather small, though the 10 year growth rate is expected to be average, with the exception of a few openings annually. In this field, you can expect to make a humble salary of about 41,000; this is due to the unfamiliarity of the career and the lack of demand for it to exist. But, future demand may be particularly high in the mental health
I then came across the practice of art therapy. As a child, I've had a love for drawing and art, and I never really grew out of it. I saw art therapy as a wonderful opportunity for me since I found this both an enjoyable and useful study. I became interested in art therapy because it serves as a creative outlet for me to help people by applying what I love for them. I believe art therapy can help troubling patients because it connects with troubling patients at
My vision of Art Therapy was very vague. I always thought art therapy was a form of therapy for distressed or abused children trying to tell a story through pictures or drawings. The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well being of individuals of all ages. Art therapy is a form psychotherapy that has been practiced for over sixty years and it has been promoted as a means of helping people who find it difficult to express themselves verbally (Crawford, et al., 2010). Art therapy sessions usually start with a form of relaxation such as deep breathing , progressive muscle relaxation, or setting an intention for the session ahead (Hart, 2010). Art therapy is used for several different types of people with diverse illnesses such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, people living with HIV/AIDS, mental disorders and even Cancer. Studies show that art therapy can lead to increased self awareness of self, as well as improved ability to cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences (American Art Therapy Association). This form of therapy helps these patients express positive feelings that may not be easy to access in the midst of a fear provoking experience (Hart, 2010). Art therapy help people to identify their feelings, and resolve the issues associated with their illness. Although, my lack of knowledge on this therapeu...
Brooke, S.L. (2004). Tools of the trade: A therapist's guide to art therapy assessments (2nd ed., Rev.). Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.
Art can benefit the unhealthy as well. With 34,000 soldiers coming back from Afghanistan as proposed by Barack Obama, there are many who consequently have mental disabilities or post-traumatic stress disorder. To cope with depression, or other symptoms, many doctors have used art programs...
Art therapy began as a natural extension of Freud’s groundbreaking psychoanalytic theories at the turn of the last century. Psychiatrists discovered that visual arts could be used as a tool of assessment, and by the 1940s art was being used not only for assessment, but also in therapeutic applications (Junge, 2010). Two main branches evolved from these early years: art as therapy and art psychotherapy.
“To use art, counselors need to learn how to integrate art therapeutically into counseling. In using art, they need to emphasize process over product and clarify the potential benefits to the student. It has been suggested that art therapy fits nicely into the American School Counselor Association’s national standards.” (Howard, 2017).
Pierson, M., & Wilson, H. (2009). Exploring Art as Therapy. In Using Expressive Arts to Work with Mind, Body, and Emotions: Theory and Practice (pp. 202-222). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsly Publishers.
Salmon, Mark. "Teaching Art and Art Therapy." Opportunities in Visual Arts Careers. Chicago: VGM Career, 2001. 102-12. Print.