Many career options are open to art majors. Whatever graduates of the Furman program choose to do, they are well-prepared by the scope and vitality of their undergraduate education.

Approximately 25 percent of Furman's art majors decide to attend graduate school. In recent years, Furman graduates have been accepted into some of the finest programs, including those at Chicago Art Institute, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Emory, Goldsmith's College of Art in London, Harvard, Indiana, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Pratt Institute, Case Western Reserve and North Carolina. With its broad variety of graduate school experience, the art faculty is able to provide ample assistance in helping students through the application process.

Furman's art majors have gone on to success in such fields as museum work, advertising, architecture, computer-related art professions, interior design, textile design, teaching (on all levels), public relations and business. Many do free lance work and exhibit widely as potters, painters and sculptors.

Careers in Art with an Art Degree from Furman

Fine Art: Studio Arts Degree
1. visiting artist programs, artist in residencies
2. art workshops and workshop organizations
3. teaching at the college level (must have MFA for tenure track)*
4. teaching in public or private school, K-12 (BA with teacher certification)
5. teaching in museums and through rural arts programs
6. private teaching
7. art consultant for corporations which purchase art
8. working for a commercial art gallery
9. owning or managing a commercial gallery or craft gallery
10. furniture designer
11. administrator or advisor in an art organization
12. writing for arts publications
13. arts agency grant writing
14. working for artist clearinghouses and “percent for art” agencies
15. craft design and production (jewelry design, ceramics, other crafts)
16. artist representation
17. illustration
18. photojournalism*
19. art direction
20. surface designer (cloth, wallpaper, carpets, building, etc.)*
21. retail display and concept promotion*
22. art therapy*
23. art handler (museums or galleries)

Commercial Art: Studio Arts Degree with Design/Visual Communications Emphasis
1. in-house publications, promotions, desktop publishing
2. graphic artist (agency, in-house, freelance, printing company)*
3. advertising (agency or freelance)*
4. logo designer, typography designer, packaging designer (agency or freelance)*
5. retail display and concept promotion*
6. illustration, editorial illustration
7. creative director (design team or agency)
8. computer graphics*(web site design and multimedia publication)
9. video editing
10. photojournalism* (still photography and video)
11. commercial photographer*
12. technical and scientific illustration*
13. surface designer (cloth, wallpaper, carpets, building, etc.)*
14. public relations, marketing
15. cartoonist or political cartoonist
16. interior design*
17. stage or set design*
18. visual media specialist*
19. photo or video stylist
20. lighting specialist*
21. art publishing
22. card designer
23. color theorist, colorist

Art Education: Studio Art Degree (K-12: Art Education Emphasis)
1. teaching K-12 (4 year BA with teacher certification)
2. Department of Education special art projects
3. teaching privately
4. teaching at museum schools
5. teaching college art education (MFA if teaching primarily outside art ed.; PhD if primarily in art education)
6. visiting artist programs, artist in residencies, art workshops

Art History: Art History Degree (MA and PhD may be required)
1. museum or gallery curator*; museum education, cataloging, research
2. arts administration*
3. writer for art periodicals
4. consultant for or employee or administrator of arts organizations, grant agencies, arts agencies
5. owner or manager of a commercial gallery
6. art slide librarian*
7. teacher in travel programs, foreign study*
8. scholar, writer of texts, monographs, articles, etc.*
9. teacher at the college level (with PhD for tenure track)*
10. art consultation
11. art appraiser*
12. art conservation*
13. historic preservation*
14. artist representative
15. art handler (museums or galleries)
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*Some careers require specific advanced degrees; others will require additional coursework after Furman (from 3 months to 2 years, depending upon your area). Additional or advanced education may not be required but will make you more competitive in the job market. Check with your art advisor and professionals in the field to determine education requirements.
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