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Artist-in-residence vs production artist

The differences between artists-in residence and production artists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an artist-in-residence, becoming a production artist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a production artist has an average salary of $61,870, which is higher than the $53,528 average annual salary of an artist-in-residence.

The top three skills for an artist-in-residence include fine arts, graphic design and art history. The most important skills for a production artist are graphic design, adobe photoshop, and adobe creative suite.

Artist-in-residence vs production artist overview

Artist-In-ResidenceProduction Artist
Yearly salary$53,528$61,870
Hourly rate$25.73$29.75
Growth rate6%3%
Number of jobs45,87359,103
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4038
Years of experience612

What does an artist-in-residence do?

An artist-in-residence instructs and supervises elementary school students' multi-disciplinary art classes. The artist-in-residence takes part in the planning and implementation of musical theatre and in-school playwriting residencies. The artists coordinate and provide lessons for parents after the school ESL classes. They establish an innovative interdisciplinary curriculum that integrates arts to academic topics and courses. Also, they demonstrate enhanced literacy skills, graphic skills, classroom management, art history, and communication skills.

What does a production artist do?

A production artist is responsible for managing digital content, meeting clients' standard specifications and requests for successful project completion. Production artists must have computer proficiency, especially on utilizing various software tools and applications to create illustrations and layouts. They also work closely with the creative team, cooperating in brainstorming sessions to ensure the consistency for each assigned task. A production artist should be keen on details, adjusting outputs as needed to maintain the highest quality for the actual presentation.

Artist-in-residence vs production artist salary

Artists-in residence and production artists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Artist-In-ResidenceProduction Artist
Average salary$53,528$61,870
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $110,000Between $40,000 And $94,000
Highest paying CityBoston, MASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandWashington
Best paying companyCranbrookApple
Best paying industryNon Profits-

Differences between artist-in-residence and production artist education

There are a few differences between an artist-in-residence and a production artist in terms of educational background:

Artist-In-ResidenceProduction Artist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorFine ArtsGraphic Design
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Artist-in-residence vs production artist demographics

Here are the differences between artists-in residence' and production artists' demographics:

Artist-In-ResidenceProduction Artist
Average age4038
Gender ratioMale, 40.8% Female, 59.2%Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%13%

Differences between artist-in-residence and production artist duties and responsibilities

Artist-in-residence example responsibilities.

  • Demonstrate effective communication skills, well-execute and expedient application of makeup to achieve the look guests desires.
  • Subject matter cover has include color theory, rules in creating pictorial space, and mathematics in art.
  • Create and implement class syllabus, day to day exercises, and monthly supply list pertaining to assign budget.
  • Schedule afterschool art making classes to grades k-12 where students collaboratively create permanent large-scale murals that are install into the school.
  • Collaborate developing lessons integrating art with mathematics and engineering.
  • Conceptualize and develop terrain models using Maya and partner with director and animators to correspond and produce effective shots.
  • Show more

Production artist example responsibilities.

  • Manage print jobs, design, copywriting.
  • Produce and code HTML emails that are browser/email client-friendly, as well code landing pages in CSS.
  • Code web pages with HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and WordPress.
  • Update and maintain CMS website.
  • Work almost daily in the mac studio.
  • Submit sketch approvals to USDA for their review.
  • Show more

Artist-in-residence vs production artist skills

Common artist-in-residence skills
  • Fine Arts, 14%
  • Graphic Design, 12%
  • Art History, 8%
  • Printmaking, 7%
  • Sculpture, 6%
  • Community Outreach, 5%
Common production artist skills
  • Graphic Design, 12%
  • Adobe Photoshop, 9%
  • Adobe Creative Suite, 7%
  • Adobe Illustrator, 7%
  • Adobe Indesign, 5%
  • Production Art, 5%

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