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Career opportunities
Employers love our Dunedin School of Art graduates.

Our graduates work in a wide range of creative and fine art industries, both in New Zealand and internationally.They have flexible, transferable skills and the ability to be both practical and visionary. These attributes are highly sought after in a wide variety of fields including the art world, visual culture, education, design, management and marketing. Add to this the fact that our graduates are work-ready, resourceful and conscientious, and it’s no wonder that employers value what they have to offer.

A lot of our graduates remain active in their art practice, with several self-employed as full-time, successful artists. Many have exhibited their work around the globe, winning national and international awards and recognition.

Others are working in a diverse and exciting range of professions, demonstrating just how many employment options an art qualification provides. These include:

Teachers in primary and secondary schools
Lecturers
Artists-in-residence at various national and international institutions
Access artists (working for the good of people with disabilities)
Social entrepreneurs (working for communities)
Industry artists (e.g at Weta Digital, Natural History NZ, Te Papa Museum of New Zealand)
Curators or managers (in galleries, museums and experimental exhibition spaces)
Coordinators: Programme coordinators (in art galleries)
City arts coordinators, Studio coordinators, Cooperative and Community coordinators
Company directors
Event managers

Dealer gallery owners
Designers for companies or as free-lance
Museum or art school technicians
Artist assistants
Graphic designers
Body and tattoo artists
Self-employment as practicing artists
Access artists (in social services)
Event managers
Programme coordinators (e.g. in art galleries)
Museum or art school technicians
Street artists
Landscape / horticulture
Commercial photographers / printers
Engineering

Want to find out more about what our graduates are doing? Click here.

Digital literacy is embedded in all of our core programmes. This ensures that you are well-prepared to use industry-standard technologies when you enter the work place and enhances your employment prospects in the digital arena, an area that is continuing to see rapid expansion. During the course of study international study exchange opportunities are also made available for our students.

Arts qualifications result in jobs

Dispelling the myth that an arts qualification doesn’t lead to good employment prospects, a recent Australian study found that the number of artists and designers working in art-related roles embedded within other professions almost doubled in size within the last twenty years.

Other research from Forbes supports this and demonstrates that visual artists and designers have had an unemployment rate half that of the national New Zealand average in recent years, and this trend appears to be continuing.

The rapid expansion of the internet has led to a massive increase in the demand for multimedia artists and designers, just one of the many reasons why art is a fantastic future-proof study choice.

On-campus living at Otago Polytechnic

Currently under construction, the Otago Polytechnic Student Village will provide on-campus, safe and secure living for students from 2018. Enquire now to register your interest call 0800 762 786 OR visit Otago Polytechnic Student Village website.

With its prime location, students will enjoy a short walk to campus whilst still only being minutes from the city centre, giving you the freedom to explore Dunedin’s vibrant student culture. A selection of room types is available to suit individual accommodation needs, from catered dormitory rooms to four-bedroom apartments and studios. Purpose-built for students, it’s the perfect home to enjoy student life to the full!

Find out more about a wide range of great options near the Dunedin Campus >

Postgraduate Art

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