Judging by applications to Yale’s graduate program in art, many feel that becoming an artist is a viable opportunity for the future:

The School of Art deadline for accepting admissions offers is April 27, but the school received 1,289 applicants, its highest number of applicants, with a 12 percent increase from last year.

“As the economy tanks, young people seek refuge in institutes of higher learning for a variety of reasons, some obvious, other less so,” Associate Dean of the School of Art Samuel Messer said in an interview with the News last January.

Rise in Applicants at Art and Drama Schools (Yale Daily News)