I'm an artist who needs a job and cheap living, where can I go???

Question

I really don't want to go to a big town like Chicago or New York. I actually like small town life but i'd like to be near a bigger city for job oppurtunities, I was thinking of Seattle or Olympia ,Washington , Portland, Oregon, and Atlanta. Oregon and Seattle offer lots of trees and greenery which I love, minus the harsh winter. They seem very expensive though. Would I be able to find a job quick that pays for the high rent? If you have suggestions of places to live please let me know.

Answer 1

Portland has a LOT of opportunities and its a beautiful city. I dont even like cities, but Portland is very nice!

You may also want to consider Ashland, Oregon. There are smaller towns nearby (cheap rent!), its a very cool town consisting mainly of tourists, artists and actors.

Answer 2

From experience, the reason an area is "cheap" is that it is hard to find a decent job there or people don't like living in the area. I would suggest that you look at ways of minimising your living expenses where you are. Of course, if you are not near a reasonably large city moving towards a city can help.

Answer 3

If you're going to move across the country for art, you should consider the bigger cities. I worked at an international contemporary art gallery in downtown LA for 4 years. If you want to make any type of impact with your art you need to move to a metropolitan city to test your metal. Otherwise, you move might be for nothing. LA is reasonably  cheap, and there are plenty of emerging galleries. But if you think Oregon is expensive, which by LA standards they're giving apartments away for free, you might want to stay clear. I guess it depends on what you want to do with your art career. I know this doesn't directly answer your question, but I thought you might want to consider this as a fellow artist.