20 Jobs You Can Do with a Degree in the Visual and Performing Arts

Set designers plan, design, and oversee the construction of sets for theatrical, motion picture, and TV productions. Average salary for performing arts is $40,520. The average salary for motion picture and video industry is $62,070, for museums, historical sites, and similar institutions $43,890, for promoters of performing arts, sports, and similar events $30,210.

Directors work closely with actors, designers, choreographers, and playwrights to manage the planning and production of theatrical works, including plays, films, musicals, and TV programs. The average yearly salary is $83,030.

Dancers express ideas and emotions through dance forms such as ballet, modern, jazz, ethnic, and folk dance. In this demanding and competitive field, dancers challenge their bodies and their minds. The average hourly income of $15.06.

Photographers use their artistic eye and technical know-how to capture the moment digitally or on film. The average yearly salary is $35,640.

Musicians and singers play musical instruments or sing as part of a group or solo. Many musicians and singers perform for live audiences, though others play only for recording or production studios. The average hourly income of musicians and singers was $28.28.

Multimedia artists and animators create images and special effects for movies, TV shows, cartoons, computer games, and more. The average yearly salary is $62,380.

Interior designers design and furnish interiors of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. The average yearly salary is $51,020.

Industrial designers work with engineers to design everyday goods, most of them mass produced. The average yearly salary is $61,580.

Illustrators create images for everything from books to greeting cards to advertisements. Many specialize, working mostly on children's books or medical illustrations, for example. The average yearly salary is $48,300 in 2008,

Graphic designers work with type and images to create the look for CD inserts, books, magazines, posters, catalogs, and other products. Some also design websites. The average yearly salary is $46,750.

Floral designers cut and arrange flowers, leaves, and branches for everything from weddings to everyday occasions. Average hourly income is $11.78 an hour.

Composers write music -- from classical to show tunes to rock. They create written compositions, called scores, to be performed by musicians and singers. The average yearly salary is $54,840.

Choreographers create new dance routines and develop their own interpretations of existing dances for ballets, musicals, and other forms of entertainment. The average yearly salary is $41,870.

Art directors come up with the visual concepts for everything from billboard advertisements to magazine layouts to videos and websites. Some create the look of editorial publications, such as newspapers. The average yearly salary is $88,510.

Actors play characters in theater, film, TV, radio, and other media. The average hourly income is $29.05

Web designers combine art skills with business savvy to create the look and feel, as well as structure, of websites that are both eye-pleasing and user-friendly. The average yearly salary is $52,000.

Theater, film, and TV technicians are craftspeople who work in stage, film, and TV productions building and decorating sets, setting up lighting and sound, and making costumes. Salaries vary. For a stage carpenter, part-time at a theater in New England: $14/hour, (Assistant technical director, part-time at a community theater in Maryland: $15,000/year, sound engineer/resident designer, New York theater: $532/week; costume shop manager, university theater in the South: $14-19/hour).

Fine artists create visual art, usually specializing in a specific type, such as painting or sculpture. Their goals may be many: to create something of beauty, to trigger emotion, and to make people think. The average yearly salary is $48,300.

Fashion designers use flair and know-how to create everything from hospital uniforms to the eye-popping outfits worn by rock stars and models. The average yearly salary is $71,400.

Craft artists create works of art that have a practical as well as an artistic purpose, including ceramics, jewelry, art glass, quilts, furniture, welding, and weavings. The average yearly salary is $32,570.