Day Jobs

By examining the impact of day jobs on artists, the exhibition seeks to demystify artistic production and overturn the romanticized concept of the artist sequestered in their studio, waiting for inspiration to strike. Conceived as a corrective to traditional art historical narratives, Day Jobs encourages us to more openly acknowledge the precarious and generative ways that economic and creative pursuits are intertwined.

Advisory note: two galleries in this exhibition have low lighting and a video with brief strobing effects. Signs are posted to alert visitors outside each respective gallery.

Day Jobs is curated by Veronica Roberts, John and Jill Freidenrich Director, Cantor Arts Center, with Jorge Sibaja, curatorial assistant, Cantor. The exhibition was organized by the Blanton Museum of Art and has been expanded at the Cantor.

We gratefully acknowledge lead support for Day Jobs provided by Pamela and David Hornik. Major support is provided by Hilary Ley Jager and Edwin Jager, and Anonymous. Generous support is provided by the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, Suzanne Deal Booth, Anthony Meier Jr. and Celeste Meier, Judy and Charles Tate, and Carl and Marilynn Thoma. Additional support is provided by Lea Weingarten, Anonymous, Jeanne and Mickey Klein, Suzanne McFayden, Keris Salmon and Frank Williams, and Robin Wright and Ian Reeves.

Sustained support generously provided by the Halperin Exhibitions Fund and The Lynn Krywick Gibbons Gallery Exhibitions Fund at the Cantor Arts Center.

Virtual Tour

Click the button below to start the tour. Alternatively, you can click here to go straight to the second gallery in a new browser tab.

Upcoming Programs

Beyond Day Jobs: Alternative Economies for Artists
Thurs., May 23, 6:00 p.m.
Cantor Auditorium
This program will consider different models of supporting artists, covering examples such as redistribution through mutual aid, artist guaranteed income, and universal basic income.
Co-sponsored by Cantor Arts Center, Stanford Basic Income Lab, Center for Poverty and Inequality

Curator Talk | Highlights from Day Jobs with Veronica Roberts
Wed., Apr. 24, 12:30 p.m.
Wed., May 8, Noon
Thurs., May 30, 12:30 p.m.
Cantor Arts Center
Join Veronica Roberts, John and Jill Freidenrich Director at the Cantor Arts Center, on this special highlights tour of Day Jobs.

Curator Talk | Highlights from Day Jobs with Jorge Sibaja
Thurs., Apr. 25, 12:30 p.m.
Wed., May 29, 12:30 p.m.
Thurs., Jun. 27, Noon
Cantor Arts Center
Join Jorge Sibaja, curatorial assistant at the Cantor Arts Center, on this special highlights tour of Day Jobs.
 

Special Exhibition Tours: Day Jobs
Fri., and Sat., 2:00 p.m. through Sat., Jul. 20
Led by museum engagement guides

Past Programs

Day Jobs | Service & Care: Violette Bule, Lenka Clayton, and Jay Lynn Gomez
Sun., Mar. 3, 2024, 1:30 p.m., Cantor Auditorium
Watch recorded program
Artists represented in Day Jobs addressed the relationship between care and service and how their creative practices have been shaped by their labor as caregivers or service workers in a discussion moderated by Cantor director and exhibition curator Veronica Roberts.

Day Jobs | Sandy Rodriguez: Codex Rodriguez-Mondragón
Thurs., Apr. 11, 2024, 6:00 p.m., Cantor Auditorium
Watch recorded program
Through research of Mexican and pre-Columbian pigments and materials used to make paintings, artist Sandy Rodriguez shares the breadth of her work at the intersection of history, social memory, and contemporary politics.

In the News

Some links may require payment to view

• Wallpaper* | Nannies, security and hairdressers: artists and their day jobs

• Apollo Magazine | How the nine-to-five gave artists ways to make a living

• The New York Times | Artists’ Day Jobs Come Into Focus at a Stanford University Exhibition
   
• KQED | ‘Day Jobs’ Wants to Dispel Romantic Notions of Art Making

• The Almanac | Day Jobs looks at how making a living can inspire making art

• ArtNews | The Year in Multi-Hyphenates: Museums Embraced Artists Who Wear Many Hats in 2023

• SF Chronicle | “Day Jobs” explores impact of necessary employment on artists

• SF Chronicle | Bay Area visual arts: 7 shows mark significant cultural moments in spring 2024

• Stanford Report | The Cantor hosts a landmark exhibition examining the overlooked impact of day jobs in the visual arts

• Metro Silicon Valley | Artists and “Day Jobs” at Cantor Arts Center

• Metro Silicon Valley | Artist day jobs examined in exhibition

• See Great Art | Day Jobs at Stanford

Press from Day Jobs (Feb. 19 – Jul. 23, 2023) at the Blanton Museum of Art:

• The New York Times | Why Is a Day Job Seen as the Mark of an Artist’s Failure?

• The Art Newspaper | How artists' day jobs can have a big impact on their art

• ArtNet | Artists Have Long Held Day Jobs to Make Ends Meet. A New Exhibition Makes the Case That Side Gigs Also Fuel Creativity

Catalogue

A major catalogue is now available for pre-order, shipping in the Summer. It functions both as an essential reader for the exhibition and as a standalone compilation of stories by many of the country’s most compelling artists, detailing the impact of their day jobs in their own words. Among the 24 artists who contributed interviews and essays to the book include Larry Bell, Genesis Belanger, Sara Bennett, Mark Bradford, Violette Bule, Jim Campbell, Lenka Clayton, Marsha Cottrell, Jeffrey Gibson, Jay Lynn Gomez, Tishan Hsu, Tom Kiefer, Ahree Lee, Nate Lewis, Robert Mangold, Narsiso Martinez, Allan McCollum, Virginia L. Montgomery, Ragen Moss, Howardena Pindell, Manuel A. Rodríguez Delgado, Sandy Rodriguez, Frank Stella, and Julia Scher.

Published by Santa Fe-based Radius Books, over 300 copies of the catalogue will be distributed to community art centers and public libraries across the country via their Donation Program—further enhancing the educational reach of Day Jobs and its core ethos about how to better support creative practices. The catalogue is edited by Veronica Roberts. Other contributors include Francesca Balboni, Sarah C. Bancroft, Meg Burns, Jenny Dally, Lucy R. Lippard, Lynne Maphies, Aja Edwin Mujinga Sherrard, Kenta Murakami, Rebekah Rutkoff, and Jorge Eduardo Sibaja.