From the stage to the studio to home offices, student artists are everywhere. Despite the common misconception that with pursuing art comes a struggling post-graduation life, they continue to work hard and establish themselves within their creative pursuits.
Student artists are all too familiar with the reputation that comes with their field of study. Society can discourage potential artists from pursuing their creative passions for fear of financial insecurity or low job availability. An outsider of the art community might think students fear the prospect of an unstable lifestyle. However, it’s often quite the opposite.
Within the University art scene, several students feel society’s tendency to brush off artists and deem them as “starving.” However, to them it shouldn’t hinder anyone from seeking their dreams. To printmaking senior Mariel Gates, the stereotype neglects artists’ true intentions for practicing their art.
“I think that idea completely overlooks the point of art. Art is a form of expression,” she says. “Money shouldn’t be a motivator to make art because then you’re not making your more raw, authentic art.”
Morgan Gray, a studio art senior focusing in painting and drawing, agrees with Gates. While painters don’t paint to become rich, she says, that shouldn’t discourage people from doing something they’re passionate about just because they don’t think they’ll make money doing it.
Darrell Forest and Reese Perkins, both theatre seniors concentrating in film and television, acknowledge that within their industry it can be difficult to climb the ladder. Nevertheless, it doesn’t affect the way they approach their careers in film.
Forest says although his degree might not help him immediately after graduation he’s going to work his way up in film and get a job to support himself in the meantime. As for Perkins, he stresses that anyone going into art must be passionate about it and can’t let finances deter their drive. He accepts that he may be labeled as a struggling artist, but he doesn’t let that discourage him.
“Say whatever you want, but at the end of the day I’m still an artist and I’m still going to make my art no matter what,” he says.
To other artists, the stereotype is a myth. Many of them don’t experience the hardships that are often associated with pursuing a career in the arts. In theatre performance senior Curran Latas’ world, starving artists don’t exist.
Because his fellow students choose to expand and develop their skills past acting and into other components of theater, like writing and directing shows, they find themselves working in multiple fields of the theater world. 
“Is that the easiest thing to do in the world?” Latas says. “No, but it’s cool to see all these people who are making their art happen. I’ve really never met someone who is a starving artist.”
Theatre senior John Brumfield feels the same way as Latas. He says because artists are doing what they love, they are never starving. To him, the satisfaction they get out of life for pursuing their passions is fulfilling enough.
Recent alumna Ronni Bourgeois studied photography and sculpture at the University. She currently teaches at the Manship Theatre while also working at Trader Joe’s. Bourgeois says her job at the grocery store covers her bills, which allows her to make and teach art in her free time. Photography senior Raegan Labat plans to follow a similar path to her friend’s after she graduates and specifically hopes to photograph music in the future.
To Bourgeois and Labat, the Baton Rouge art community represents a group of hard-working people who manage different trades, including their art, without the multiplicity feeling like a sacrifice.
While the Baton Rouge art community is making a claim for itself, it’s still one of the smallest groups represented on campus. According to fall 2016 data from the Office of Budget and Planning, the University’s enrollment in business and STEM colleges had over 11 times more students than the College of Art and Design. This disparity can make art students at the University subject to scrutiny from those working toward more practical degrees.
Gray shares that at first, she felt telling people she was an art major was embarrassing because of the judgment she received. However, now she says that majoring in something she enjoys shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of.
Non-art majors sometimes undermine the work of art majors, Labat says. She mentions that she’s experienced some criticism for her degree choice, as some students outside the art community think studying art is easy.
“I definitely had…people…kind of belittling me for my major choice, saying like, ‘I kind of wanted to do [photography], but I didn’t really see anything in it,’” she says.
Parents may also be hesitant to embrace their child’s desire to go into the arts, as they may worry that their child won’t be able to make a reasonable living practicing their craft.
Graphic design senior Don Mark Roxas recalls his parents’ initial reluctance at his degree choice. Roxas says they actually wanted him to become an architect, but eventually gave him their support when he expressed his dream of going into the arts.
Bourgeois shares that her parents also opposed her desire to study photography, but it didn’t stop her from doing what she felt was right.
She remembers telling them, “I like [studying art] and this feels right and I don’t think many other things feel right, so this is…what I should be doing.”
For prospective artists, Gates offers one piece of advice: “If you feel like you wanna do it, there shouldn’t be anything to stop you. Even if you don’t think you’ll make money [doing it] because you can find a way to make a career with art.”

Gallery • 14 Photos

Photo by Jordan Marcell

Artist Morgan Gray speaks about her work on Jan. 27, 2017 in the LSU Art and Design Building.