Symposium to help graduates find jobs

When senior Molly Gabbard realized there was a lot she didn’t know about finding a job in the arts, she decided to do something about it.

She created Making Art Work, a free symposium about careers in the arts.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts. Breakfast and lunch will be provided throughout the day, and attendees are encouraged to register through the Career Development Center Web site at www.indiana.edu/~career.

“There is a lot that goes into practicing art as a career,” Gabbard said. “Making Art Work is a crash course on things we need to know when pursuing our creative careers in the real world.”

As a part of ArtsWeek, which runs from Feb. 19 to March 1, Sara Pennington-Busick, the associate director for employer relations at the Career Development Center, said the overall goal is to encourage and help students embrace careers in the arts.

Throughout the day students, faculty and the community are invited to take part in listening to lectures and discussions about strategies for getting a career in the arts.

The event will give students networking opportunities with local artists and IU alumni that work in the arts industry.

Gabbard said one of the speakers will be Kathleen Richert of Springboard for the Arts, an organization that runs workshops. Its mission is to “cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the skills, contacts, information and services they need to make a living,” according to its Web site.  

Along with Richert, other speakers will feature lectures called “Legal Issues for Artists” and “Pricing Your Work.”

One of the panels featured throughout the day will be “Building Your Creative Career.”

Panelists will include Tamar Kander, a local painter, Pamela Keech from the Bloomington Area Arts Council, Ed Maxedon, the head docent at the IU Art Museum, and Andrea Rettig, a Chicago-based designer.

IU alumni with degrees in the arts will take part in another panel called “Beyond IU: Steps to Integrating Your Career and Your Life.”

“Every person on the panel has some form of an art degree or are working artists,” Pennington-Busick said. “Students will be able to see what they are doing with their degree and the various paths that artists can take.”

With the recession, Gabbard said that it is important now more than ever for students in the arts to know how to job hunt and network.

“I think it will be really good to hear the professional speakers that have been in the art world,” said sophomore Katherine Stewart, one of the event planners for the symposium. “It will be nice to get real-world and practical advice.”