In The News…

News feature in a story from the Rochester Business Journal dated August 14, 2009:

Graduates juggle multiple jobs to feed a passion for the arts

Marisa Ballaro’s alarm clock goes off at a different time each morning. She juggles different jobs to support her career as a dancer in New York City. A graduate of SUNY College at Brockport with degrees in dance and interdisciplinary arts for children, Ballaro calls herself a “freelance teaching artist.”

“I’m in a different borough, I’m rehearsing, I’m performing, I’m teaching, I’m administrating, I have meetings, I’m doing all of these different things,” she says.

Ballaro teaches dance and academic fusion programs in New York City schools and works as a teaching artist and an arts administrator for the American Dance Legacy Institute during the school year. She will work at Learning through an Expanded Arts Program in the fall and is spending this month teaching at the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs. She recently was in Delaware to set a piece she choreographed with the Nova Dance Company. “People (ask), ‘What do you do?’ and I’m like, ‘Well, do you have 20 minutes?’” she says.

Ballaro’s life is similar to those of other graduates of arts programs. If they are able to secure employment in an arts-related field, many graduates must still take multiple jobs because positions in the arts usually are seasonal or part time. Often they find themselves working in fields unrelated to their specialization to pay the bills until another opportunity comes along.

Christopher Van Hof, who got a master’s degree in music from University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, credits his success in finding employment partly to luck. He did an internship at WXXI Public Broadcasting’s classical radio station while in college and was hired as the afternoon host shortly after graduation. “It was kind of a fortuitous connection that was made,” Van Hof says.

Van Hof, a trombonist, also teaches low brass at Nazareth College of Rochester and performs in multiple ensembles. But his wife, Andrea, a flutist, was not so lucky. She had to wait tables and nanny for two years before finding a job teaching flute at a private school. It is not uncommon for arts graduates to take jobs in unrelated fields to survive, says Russell Scarbrough, former career coordinator at Eastman School of Music. He recently left his post to pursue other opportunities in music.

When Ballaro moved to New York City shortly after graduation, she paid the bills by working as a hostess at a French restaurant, a job she did not much care for. Sometimes, however, those experiences open doors to other opportunities. Ballaro, for instance, was able to meet other artists and explore opportunities in her field while working as a hostess.

Scarbrough says arts graduates might discover new things they are good at and add new skills to the repertoire while working different jobs. Such employment can be peripheral to the arts, such as event planning, arts administration and public relations.

Michelle Bonker, a scenic artist who graduated from Nazareth with a B.A. in theater, agrees that diversifying one’s skills is beneficial. After graduating from Nazareth, Bonker attended a scenic artist training program at Cobalt Studios in White Lake, Sullivan County. She learned how to paint for film, theater and television, as well as interior painting. For extra income, she now is able to do painting jobs in people’s houses. “I made sure I tried a whole bunch of areas in my field, so that if I can’t do exactly what I want, I can do something similar,” Bonker says.

A diverse background may be more important than ever in the current recession. Scarbrough says those pursuing careers as teachers of the arts or who supplement their income by teaching part time are having a harder time finding work. He attributes this problem to cuts in arts funding made by academic institutions and the hesitancy of those who hold teaching positions to leave their posts. But Scarbrough would not go as far as to say that artists are having a harder time finding employment in a difficult economy. Himself a practicing musician, Scarbrough says he has more performance opportunities this summer than in previous summers. Scarbrough observes, however, that the squeeze on academic jobs is leading to more competition for other employment opportunities. Now more than ever, graduates must be innovative, not just in their artistic work but in piecing together a career, he says.

Bonker is trying to do just that. She is currently working as an artist at Stages St. Louis Staging Co. in Missouri until September and is applying for jobs for when her stint in St. Louis ends. She says her future is up in the air at the moment, but she might end up at Hamilton College for a few weeks in October and may spend February painting in Florida. “With being a scenic artist, it is … who you know, and connections, and finding out from other people where places are hiring. It’s kind of a job-to-job thing,” Bonker says.

Ballaro says aspiring artists must be ready to work hard. She says she is not afraid to work long hours and finish the day exhausted. “I can’t think of one thing in … almost two years that has just fallen into my lap,” she says. The hard work she puts into her jobs yields more than just a paycheck; Ballaro says success in previous jobs often leads to more opportunities. For example, her positive evaluations in teaching have led to a job educating teachers about creating lesson plans for incorporating the arts into curriculums. Ballaro says an artist’s lifestyle is not for everyone. Some of her friends called it quits after a few months of struggling and moved away. But Ballaro has made it her mission to succeed as an artist in New York City, a decision that she says was easy for her. “I will live in New York, and I will make it as an artist, and I will be here doing these things,” she says.

John Magee is a Rochester Business Journal intern.
Rochester Business Journal
By JOHN MAGEE

08/14/09 (C) Rochester Business Journal