Tips for the Artists in Limbo: Entry Three
Adulting inYour Creative Field
Congratulations - you have just graduated from school and can officially commemorate all of your long nights and hard work into an exciting future ahead! You have all of this momentum, a slew of ideas, and an abundance of talent, but what EXACTLY do you do now?
It may sound like a silly question, being that you’ve probably spent the last couple of years working with a specific goal in mind. But for some people, maybe your only goal was to be incredibly successful, even thought right now you may not know exactly what success looks like for you. When you officially leave the “safe space” that is arts school and take your first couple of steps as an official freelance artist, your goals are still there, but are are seemingly obstructed by all of these new responsibilities.
Maybe graduating means your Assistantship or Fellowship is ending, so you’re now thinking that you need a full time job. Or, graduating means that you are moving to a new city, for a variety of reasons, and you will be leaving behind the network that you spent years building while in school.
The truth is, a lot of these decisions are completely normal and most times necessary as you make this transition in life, but regrettably they also can make you feel as if you are sacrificing your artistic progress in some way.
Luckily, there truly are a number of ways that being a freelance artist and adulting can work in tandem - and blossom into a very fulfilling future ahead!
The first, and I believe most important task, is to remember to keep all of your options open. Understandably, you probably have a big long term goal in mind at all times and are tempted to believe that achieving this, and only this, will be the ultimate way that you are deemed successful in your career. But, that is just not true at all. There truly isn’t ONE way to be successful, despite what may be the “standard” or “typical” path for people in your field.
A real perk of the arts fields is the fact that our skills are incredibly versatile. There are a number of different avenues that you could venture down with the skill set that you have, and you may be immediately limiting yourself upon graduation.
So, I say - set MULTIPLE goals. Visualize it - your goals are a pyramid, and put that huge long term goal at the top of the pyramid. Then, sprinkle in some short term goals beneath it to kind of keep you busy in the meantime and to ultimately lead you to that fabulous long term goal.
I’m highlighting this because, in my experience, if you don’t allow yourself to be open in those years immediately after school, and turn down prospective opportunities because it doesn’t directly correlate with your long term goal, you can become fatigued and start feeling unfulfilled as an artist in the present. I now believe in supplementing your time with building other important skills, and becoming versatile.
It’s the same reason that people say you should have multiple streams of income to supplement your expenses. You need multiple streams of artistic expression in order to supplement the blueprint of your aspiring career.
We are in 2025 and officially in a time where social media holds significant power in networking and business management. Now that you are a graduate, you have to start thinking of yourself as a self made business!
Getting on the most popular social media sites like Instagram and TikTok is the best way to advertise yourself. And I don’t mean posting here and there on your personal page, I mean create a fresh new profile specifically for showcasing your craft. Spend time thinking about how exactly you want to format your page, and be creative in curating content. It feels like a lot of work at first, but once you get into the swing of things, you will grow a lot faster than you think.
Before you know it, you will connect with like minded artists from across the country simply because you found each other on Instagram. The way I think of it is: if I’m going to be on my phone as much as I am, I might as well take care of some business while I’m at it.
You have probably heard this a million times at this point and, if you are anything like me, are most likely a tad overwhelmed by this concept! I don’t have to explain too much how crucial networking is at this point, but why does it still feel so daunting and scary? The idea of putting yourself out there in that way and being a tad aggressive about getting your name out there can be a little bit of a nightmare for someone who is not completely extroverted.
So, with that being said, you might have to find ways to network that are a little less “on the nose”. As mentioned in the previous slide, I believe that using social media as a networking tool is an introverted creative’s dream. I don’t have to directly talk to anyone everyday, and can just post myself playing or musical updates and because of the nature of the platform, you are networking by doing so.
But, you also have to be seen. So be a little brave and every once in a while get off of your phone and get out there into real life. That could be by attending community events or performances, free masterclasses, or taking a lesson from a professor. The next slides dive deeper into those options:
Being a freelancer means that you probably have already been approached by various community groups for gigs and other opportunities even while you were in school. But let’s say that you move away from the town you went to school in and find yourself in a new area and trying to find a foot into a new gigging circuit.
The best way to start introducing yourself to the gigging circuit is to attend and participate in community performances! In a place like New York City, there are SO many amazing community ensembles that are extremely dedicated to providing artistic events for their local community. I have met so many amazing musicians in the community orchestras I have played with, and have even gotten some great paying gigs out of connecting with some musicians from those groups. It is an opportunity for people to hear or see your skills and build a relationship with you.
Plus, even if you don’t have the capacity to participate, it is so rewarding to support those local groups and attend their performances. Nothing keeps you more motivated and inspired!
When you were in school, you most likely had the capacity to dedicate a lot of early mornings, late nights, or midday sessions to your craft as needed. You were probably able to be pretty flexible with that depending on the day, and would adjust your schedule all of the time. Just know that your dedication will not have to change at all once you graduate if you are serious, but for some people, your practice sessions just may look a bit different depending on what your responsibilities are now.
For example, a lot of people, like myself, decide to work a full time job once graduating. That requires 40 hours of your week, smack in the middle of the day from 8am-5pm, that I cannot practice or really dedicate a lot of brain power to my craft. That leaves maybe the night time as your only time alone; and after a long work day, may not feel like the most appealing way to spend your night.
The quicker that I came to terms with the fact that my practice sessions are going to have to look a bit different, the easier balancing both became for me. In school, I may have been able to spend a whole hour and a half just on warming up and practicing scales. But with my schedule now, I may realistically only have three hours a night total to practice before I basically fall asleep standing up.
So, I had to adjust the way that I approach practicing. Instead, I dedicate 30 minutes to warm up, and I change my method of doing so to make sure that I am still hitting all my bases, just in a shorter amount of time. Or, maybe I used to spend a whole hour on one excerpt just because I was able to, but now I have to set a timer for 20 minutes only to spend on each excerpt if I want to get to everything. The positive? By doing so I am actually training myself to better prioritize my time and improve the methods that I use to practice to be able to get it done well in a shorter amount of time.
This overall takes practice in itself, and would definitely vary from person to person. But, I believe that every artist (musicians especially) should have variations of what a practice session looks like depending on the task, so that you feel prepared with whatever amount of time that you are presented with on any given day. Think about if you were to be given only 10 minutes in a warm up room before an audition when you were originally promised 20 minutes. How would you be flexible yet still feel prepared to audition in 10 minutes? This rule of “knowing HOW to practice” is ultimately beneficial for all kinds of situations!
I think that we can all agree that the bottom line for this entry is: don’t be afraid of branching out into your community.
Get on social media and find out about all of the different events happening near you (some are even free) and set a goal of attending a certain number in a month.
Dedicate time to researching these events and find what aligns best with what your goals are. Attend a masterclass as an audience member OR even sign up to participate!
Go support those community ensembles and attend one of their performances. Sign up for a conference or seminar to learn more about your industry.
Attend festivals.
The opportunities are virtually endless, you just have to stay organized and intentional with how you approach everything, and you will truly make the most out of your first couple of years “adulting” in the real world.
