{"id":8651,"date":"2023-11-28T19:50:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T19:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/?p=8651"},"modified":"2024-10-03T21:08:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T21:08:37","slug":"art-major-after-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/blog\/art-major-after-college\/","title":{"rendered":"An Art Major After College"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it comes to majoring in a creative field, students struggle with where they\u2019ll end up after college, and parents fear their kids might work in jobs they have no passion for. I personally have had these fears, switching from graphic design with a clear career path to taking a chance on my passion for printmaking<\/a>. It is scary, it leads to difficult conversations, and it can feel like the entire weight of your future is on your shoulders right now. But the weight of your future is not on your shoulders. Take the pressure off and let yourself breathe. You\u2019re choosing this path because you have a passion for it, and you have determination, as did the following alumni who became successful in their creative fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Event visual designed by Joseph Elliot West, Fall 2023 CAL Design Team, Sophomore Fine Art Student<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In September, I visited the Grand Canyon when my father came into town. Outside the Hopi House gallery was Richard L. Dawavendewa<\/a>, a Hopi artist and printmaker. I was deeply impressed by his work, so when I talked to him, I was delighted to learn that he not only went to NAU but also studied under the same professor, David Williams (another NAU alumnus), as I am now! We had a very encouraging conversation about our shared art form, and as I left his booth, he told me to really hone my craft and continue down my path. Richard’s art can be found on his Instagram<\/a>. Meeting someone successful who is promoting and selling their art, coming from where I am now, is encouraging to me, and I hope it is for you, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Relief print: “Germination” 2-layer reduction process. 18″x9″ image on Magnani Pescia blue and white BFK Rives papers. Edition of 34, from Dawavendewa’s Facebook page.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Research for this post led me down several rabbit holes, one of which led to novelist C. Dean Andersson<\/a>. Known for his fiction writing in the horror, science fiction, and \u201csword and sorcery<\/em>\u201d fantasy genres, Andersson led a long and successful career as an author with a dozen novels and several short stories published throughout his lifetime. Andersson started at NAU sometime in the mid-70s as a music major but quickly switched to art. During this transitional time, he recalled in a 2014 interview, \u201cTry explaining that one to parents who had scraped and saved to help you afford college,\u201d a sentiment shared by many of us. As he progressed in his career, Andersson began merging his art and writing. Often, Andersson would include his illustrations and watercolor paintings in his stories, as well as use his artistic process to visualize a scene to narrate. Sadly, Andersson passed away in 2021 at the age of 75, but he will be remembered not only as a successful author but as one who normalized female leading characters in times and genres where the idea was far too rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Event slide created by Joseph Elliott West, Fall 2023 CAL Marketing Team, Sophomore Fine Art Student<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When choosing your major, it can feel like everything about your future depends on your decision and that you must choose right the first time. But I urge you, the incoming student, the student considering switching majors, or the parent concerned for their child, to really consider the possibilities. Look at the successful people around you in the field you want to work in; ask them where they came from and how they got there. What hoops did these people jump through? What unexpected curveballs did life throw at them, and how did their experiences and what they learned in college inform and guide them through these events? It is scary, it is intimidating, but it is not the end of the world, and you have a successful career waiting for you wherever you go. And, oh, the places you\u2019ll go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by: Joseph Elliott West, Fall 2023 College of Arts and Letters Marketing Team, Fine Arts Major<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Elliott West writes a blog about his experiences switching his major from graphic design to art and printmaking, chronicling his research of the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":736,"featured_media":8652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[75,21,101],"tags":[47,89],"class_list":["post-8651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-college-of-arts-and-letters","category-school-of-art-design","tag-cal-alumni","tag-school-of-art-and-design"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8651"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8685,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8651\/revisions\/8685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-arts-letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}