Rec | I’M MAKING A CAREER SHIFT

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i’ve worked in the arts for my entire career, mainly in art museums. i’m also an independent curator and ran a gallery out of my storefront apartment for a year and a half. i’ve archived photographs, led museum tours, curated exhibitions, couriered art across the country in an 18-wheeler, written wall texts, edited books, interviewed artists, fundraised, done countless studio visits, written exhibition essays, provided accessibility for disabled visitors, built a curatorial practice around working with disabled artists, project managed performances, and participated as a performer in a couple of pieces (including a Tino Sehgal). i am immensely proud of my work and have done and seen some incredible things. i’ve also worked with incredible passionate people who have the privilege and honor of making culture. but I’m also very burnt out and currently in the midst of plotting a departure from the art world, in search of a job that provides more balance. my whole job as a “museum worker” has been my identity for 14 years and I’m curious to see what my life looks like next. i’m mediating on and grappling with the idea that we weren’t put on this planet to labor, which compounded with the effects of lockdown and the pandemic, has changed my relationship to work and having a linear career. life is too short and too precious to give all of ourselves to a job (hope that doesn’t make me sound far out or too radical). right now I’m working with a career coach, doing informational interviews, playing with my resume and cover letter formats, and applying for a wild array of non-art / non-museum jobs. I’d love to hear if you have any insights or suggestions! it’s scary making the leap but I’m trusting my gut here.

@salad_valet

Feb 15, 2025

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@worldonfire

Museum work can be so rewarding but it really does require so much personal sacrifice. My time in the museum world was a fraction of yours, just two years working at a tiny 6 person museum in the pandemic straight out of college. I learned a lot and worked my way up from the front desk to museum and community programing, bookkeeping, donor relations, collections management, etc. It was incredible to feel like I “made it” in my desired field right after graduating but it took so much from me by the time I left I was so completely burned out. So many weekends and evenings in my 20s sacrificed to run webinars, work events, openings, etc. I loved my fellow young coworokers but those at the top were, as my therapist said, “pathologically disordered” and made my life kind of a nightmare. I also made a terrible wage, had virtually zero benefits, worked many more than 40 hours, and had no work life balance (lived two blocks from the museum and always had to go over to check the alarm since I lived the closest). My final straw was looking forward a decade or so and realizing the upper cap for salary was pretty low and that many of the successful women I knew in the field had either A. a ton of external financial support from a wealthy spouse or B. sacrificed any social/home life to reach their success. Ultimately I was interested in curation and the museum director (a fellow white woman) told me there was no longer any space in the world for white female curators which is neither here nor there, but very dispiriting for a 25 year old to hear. Long story short, after leaving that job I got a remote tech sales job and almost tripled my salary overnight and had unlimited PTO and incredible benefits. I stayed there for two years and it had its ups and downs but I had so much more time, energy, and money to live my life outside of work. I left that job recently for personal reasons and now work at a vineyard and make very little money but am loving my job and it is truly the healthiest work environment I’ve ever been in. I wouldn’t trade my museum time, I met some incredible people and have so many funny/bizarre/tragic stories but I can’t foresee going back. I love museums and prefer to enjoy them as a patron. Anyway, sorry for the rant and lack of advice but my time was such a fever dream I’m very curious to hear about your time in the arts and what exactly was your final straw? Thanks for reading if you made it this far lol

Feb 15, 2025

@salad_valet

worldonfire we should connect!! I have a feeling we have a lot of similar / parallel experiences… I’ll DM you and we can keep the convo going! ❤️‍🩹

Feb 15, 2025

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Informational interviews

Been doing a bunch of these as part of my career rebrand (Sandy 2.0) and it’s been really fun! I get to chat with people who have jobs I’m curious about, learn about their paths, how they spend their time, and what challenges they face. Truly wish I’d done this before committing to working in the arts for fourteen years—ya live, ya learn. Hoping one of these connections might lead to another, but for now, it’s been fun to ride the curiosity wave and activate my listening muscles. 10/10 would recommend. On the flip, if anyone is curious about working in the arts / museums / curating, I’d be happy to share what I know! Comment or DM me, I’d love to pay it forward.

@salad_valet

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reframe what do i want to do for career, to what will help me live a fullfilling life?

as someone in the creative industry, its hard bc sometimes all i wanna do is throw myself into my passions and work so hard i get myself sick. but i’ve realized im not happiest when i work 50-60 hour work weeks (even if im fulfilled and having fun) i need the time and space for the things that fuel being creative: exercise, hiking, being with friends, playing dnd. This work is like breathing, you should try to find balance between breathing in and out. Creatives are often told that their work should become their job, but sometimes, it’s truly better for it be a side hustle or things that operate on a project to project basis. I found it helpful to get connected with people who I admired and see what their days look like. Are they running around 24/7? are they constantly making work they actually don’t like bc it makes money? or are they dedicated to things they love and are fulfilled? or are they practically controlled by their work? Their day to day can be very similar to yours, so understanding if that would be an environment you would be happy in is very important. I agree that volunteering is a good place to start, also gets you connected to the people who work in the industries yr interested in! Museum studies might be broad enough for you to also access some internships across a few industries which really give you great insight what working in various environments can be like for real. I will say working in an arts environment has been incredible for me, i feel truly myself and able to be who i am with very few masks on.

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