IF MY KIDS

If my kids want to go to school for, I'm not paying. Go for accounting, nursing, education, math, AMDA. I'm not paying. Stitch Incoming. You have a degree in modern dance. What are other ways you like to waste your time and money? Stitch Incoming. No, because it really was like. Stitch Incoming. It's such a worthless degree. Stitch Incoming. Oh, 1000%. Stitch Incoming. As someone that has both their bachelor's and their master's in music, I feel so capable to talk about this topic about why I both agree and disagree that fine arts degrees are worthless. I do genuinely believe that an arts degree does have a purpose, but I think why we feel like these programs are worthless is because I, no, you don't technically need to go to school to be an artist. We have legendary artists who did not start in a classroom in order to have a successful career. But I think the real issue is that these arts education programs, these institutions have not really learned how to teach artists to have sustainable, successful careers instead. They just teach you how to be really good at your craft. I'm personally under the belief that any fine arts program, whether it is in a high school, in a college or in a graduate school, you need to be teaching artists not only how to be good at their core craft, but how all of their talents that we all have are going to one day play into how their career actually becomes successful. So essentially, we should be preparing artists to be multi-hyphenated creative professionals and not just these one-trick ponies. Now, when I was in the classroom back in the day, I learned how to be a good music artist and performer. What I did not learn is marketing and branding, and how to run a team and how to make sure a production is on schedule, how to make sure you're communicating with people, how to budget, how to pitch an idea to someone so that they can fund what you're trying to do. There were so many little details and nuances behind what it takes to sustain a creative career that I did not learn in the classroom. And if you're someone that's like, that's cute, but as an artist, I don't wanna learn how to do all those things, like that's not what an arts program is supposed to be about. I think we also have to be really honest about the fact that there is no artist on this planet that has not felt the pressure of just needing to pay your bills and needing to survive, and knowing that you cannot turn that degree into a quick job. And my perspective is, if we are actually teaching artists all of these underlying skills that come with being an artist anyway, maybe you needing to get a quick check can be on, go pick up a freelance contract for 20k for a few months, and then you can return back to whatever it is that you're building. Like, there is no perfect way to pursue this life. But what I am saying is that we are not providing artists with nearly enough solutions on how to turn their skills into a paycheck. Even though I'm someone that is so thankful for my degree, I know that I would not have a fraction of the success that I have if I had not gone to school first for for music. And I think it is so important, especially for artists, to be able to have space to train and learn about your craft and learn about how you want to exist as an artist. I also think we're doing an incredible disservice when we do not teach and empower artists to enter the working world or the industry of their choice as well-rounded creative professionals, not just artists who know how to do art really, really well.