Education · 1 of 5

The path

There is no qualifying exam and no register of artists. What you build instead is a body of work and a list of people who know it.

1. 1

   High school

   Grade 12

   Make a lot of work and keep all of it. Art programs admit on a portfolio, and a portfolio takes two years to build, not two weeks.

2. 2

   Foundation year, if you go to art school

   1 year

   Rhode Island School of Design calls its version Experimental and Foundation Studies. Everyone does drawing, color and three-dimensional work before choosing a major.

3. 3

   Degree, or self-directed practice

   0 to 4 years

   A four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts, a university art major, or no degree at all while you work and make things. All three produce working artists.

4. 4

   Build a body of work

   2 to 5 years

   Twenty to thirty pieces that clearly belong together. Until that exists you have nothing to show a gallery, a grant panel or a client.

5. 5

   Get it seen

   Ongoing

   Open studios, group shows, art fairs, social media, a plain website with good photographs. Repeat for years.