Dunedin School of Art
Parent information
Helpful information about what’s it like to learn at Dunedin School of Art and the career opportunities for our students.
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)
- 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
- Museum or art school technicians
- Street artists
- Landscape / horticulture
- Commercial photographers / printers
- Engineering
We focus on digital literacy
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, an 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.
Student accommodation
Find out more about a wide range of great options near the Dunedin Campus.
Contact us
If you’re not sure what to study and would like some guidance, we’re here to help. Feel free to chat to us directly about any questions you may have.
