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You Don’t Need to Be a Starving Artist

Graduates from the FHSU Department of Art and Design are highly sought after graphic designers, Web designers, interior decorators, educators and more. Your options are only as limited as your imagination and your ambition. With an excellent academic program, strong faculty mentorship and connections throughout education, industry and the non-profit world, you’ll be more than ready to pursue a career in art.

Possible careers in art and design include:

  •  Interior Designer
  • Artist
  • Art Director
  • Art Instructor
  • Video industry designer
  • Advertising designer
  • Art appraiser
  • Gallery owner
  • Graphic Designer
  • Gallery Manager
  • Design Manager
  • Motion Picture design affiliate
  • Publication designer
  • Illustrator
  • Art Consultant
  • Exhibition manager

Still not sure what to do with a degree in art or design? Contact the Department of Art and Design to speak with a faculty advisor or visit FHSU’s Academic Advising and Career Exploration web site for lots of information about other possible careers.

Our Art and Design graduates - out in the world
Jenny Venn (2004, 2007)
Assistant Professor of Art, Graphic Design
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY
I am currently teaching graphic design at the University of Wyoming. I run the entire graphic design program here and have around 45 majors and several additional minors. I have also been working as a freelance designer on a body of academic/creative research titled Trashy Graphics. I constantly try to provide the same level of knowledge and inspiration that all of my professors at FHSU did. An internship with Associated Advertising Agency in Wichita prepared me for both work and life more that I ever thought possible. I was given a taste of what the advertising world was like and was able to work on actual accounts and see my work published in many different settings. FHSU helped me achieve my career goals by inspiring me to do my very best as well as preparing me to be the very best academically. The excellent faculty I was privileged to study under during my tenure in Hays was the primary reason for my academic success.

Jon Swindler (1999)
Assistant Professor
Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia
Athens, GA
I am an artist and a teacher. My work is exhibited nationally and internationally in commercial and university galleries and museums. My research has centered on the implementation of various printmaking and drawing media within a single matrix. As a teacher I am a member of the printmaking and book arts area in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. I teach graduates and undergraduates in printmaking courses including intaglio, relief, lithography, screenprinting, monotype, and digital practices. My success and standing in the field of printmaking is a direct result of my experiences at FHSU. Professors Frank Nichols, Gordon Sherman and Michael Jilg provided outstanding leadership through their unique approaches to art-making and instruction. Each professor tirelessly nurtured my visual language; leading by example through their own highly-productive artist practices. At FHSU, I was active in Creative Arts Society and Intramurals. Creative Arts Society was by far the most beneficial for me. It crystallized in my mind the importance and power of collaboration among a group of motivated individuals. I feel the time in CAS has made me a better colleague as I always seek to achieve the goals that will serve the greater good.