No matter how much conservatism trashes art education and creates a system hostile to artists, our skills are needed — especially when these ideologies govern society’s thinking.

We’ve seen some interesting commentary on the value of arts education and the benefits of being creative this past week. Gemma and I, of course, believe passionately in art education, but for this Business Monday post, I wanted to consider the marketable skills developed through an arts education. I’m talking about more than selling your artwork, which can be sporadic, but the skills that can drive your professional profile as an artist and a thinker.

Hannah de Herrera owner of Althea Sky Design in a popular post on LinkedIn last week listed these skills, among others, that she learned at art school:

• Conceptual thinking — which means developing a notion into a fully formed idea; looking at all the angles, delving into research to see what is and is not feasible, and seeing how parts fit together to make the bigger whole. This thinking is especially developed in art education.
• Visualising a narrative — knowing how to use colour, form, materiality, structure, and media to visually convey a narrative is vital to helping clients to realise their vision. This can be in the form of marketing, social media, packaging design, etc., but it is also important to how an artist conveys the story of their work and the world they see. This skill is a vital part of an art education.
• Creating connections between disparate parts — related to conceptual thinking discussed above, there is a deep sense of the wider understanding associated with this skill. It takes special skills training to understand how unrelated parts can have significant connections. Through the development of research skills it is possible to uncover those hidden connections, while finely honed creative thinking skills organise these parts and their connections in a meaningful way.
• Discuss and debate thought-provoking ideas with others — while it doesn’t take an art degree to do this, an art degree helps inform these kinds of discussions from an alternative perspective. Such an alternative perspective can be the thing that changes preconceived notions, alters long-held beliefs, and provides other ways of viewing the world. Being able to discuss topics from an aesthetic perspective doesn’t mean only considering beauty, but more importantly, it means debating from a point of empathy.

del Herrera expressed her gratitude for learning these skills at art school, without which she would have never created her graphic design business, Althea Sky Design. ‘Without the creative freedom of my degree, I wouldn’t have explored the topics that led me to where I am today,’ del Herrera writes in her post. This is just one example of how these skills underpin creative work that can sustain an art practice. It is also an example of how thinking from an aesthetic perspective, that is from a point of empathy, can be central to a creative business. In order to work successfully with her clients, del Herrera must approach each project with empathy for what her client wants to convey through their branding.

Likewise, it is precisely thinking from this point of empathy that underscores Bel Jacobs’ BBC article, “How releasing our ‘inner artist’ can help keep us calm.” Ostensibly the piece points out ways that creative transformation can add to a circular economy, helping us feel better. But there is a more important message in the article based in the need for the creative mind to help us to imagine. Jacobs quotes systems thinker, Rachel Arthur who says…

‘In a lot of my work, I talk about culture shift and narrative change. Sustainability can feel very technical, or it’s talked about through the lens of sacrifice, doom and gloom, reduction. Much of that is necessary but what we also need are storytellers who can shape a vision of a sustainable future. If we want change to happen, we have to be able to imagine what that world looks like.’

Artists do this imaginative thinking really well, and it is the reason art education matters. An art education gives creative minds the skills they need to imagine a future and move us out of the narratives of the past. These skills, and others learned in art school, are highly marketable and transferable skills that artists rely on to make their way in the world, while making the world a place we can also imagine.

What skills do you value most from your art education?