editorial rt86
Matt Huynh
We know there’s a skills shortage everywhere else, but in the arts? Statistics on the subject are highly variable (p4, p44), so are the guesstimates of arts educators. Regardless of the facts, what is the tertiary education sector doing about preparing students for the transition into their careers, as well as making sure there are careers to be had? Everything and nothing. Some institutions are developing graduate performance companies, job agencies and extensive alumni networks. All are focused on producing multi-skilled, entrepreneurial graduates. But a few acknowledge a new breed of student, in media arts for example, already networked, part-time employed in their field or running a small business, and ahead of the game. The seven essays we’ve commissioned for this edition make for a fascinating survey of the elephant in the room of arts education—how many jobs are there in the arts and how do you get them? Enterprising young Sydney artist Matt Huynh’s illustration seemed entirely appropriate.
Image by Matt Huynh from Midnight Morning by Will Leong, Matt Huynh & Haline Ly, 2008, www.popperbox.com.
In a limited edition, Midnight Morning is a handsomely crafted book of illustrations which, the three artists say, “celebrates shared experiences of love and devastation.”
RealTime issue #86 Aug-Sept 2008 pg. 1
