Sal Cosenza has been drawing ever since he was a child, and in the last few years his passion for art has finally paid off.
Cosenza, an architecture and art freshman, has made about $2,000 selling 10 paintings since his freshman year of high school at Art One Gallery in Scottsdale and to friends and family.
His art's most common theme is New York City. One painting transforms the Chrysler Building into a female figure posing seductively.
"I never lived there, and I'm obsessed," Cosenza said.
Cosenza is one of several student artists selling their work before they even graduate to establish themselves as they dive into the art world.
"It's putting a toe in the water to get a read of the market and what they're going to be up against," said Tom Eckert, a professor in the Herberger College's School of Art.
Cosenza constantly tries to produce paintings because he believes it's the best way to promote himself, he said.
"Every year, I try to make more than I did the previous year," he said. "It's like an assembly line."
Lynette Andreasen has sold hundreds of pieces of jewelry and small sculptures over the last three years at people's homes and art shows. In the last year alone, she said she sold about $5,000 worth of art.
The biggest challenge the metals senior has faced is marketing her pieces, she said.
Until now, she has attracted attention for her art through word of mouth.
"I don't want to have to deal with the business end," said Andreasen, who is graduating in December.
Still, students have had an easier time selling their work in recent years because they have proven their art is as good as that of professionals, said Kraig Foote, owner of Art One Gallery.
Andreasen said she hopes to get her work shown at a gallery after she graduates so she can leave the promotion up to them.
Her dream is to become an artist who makes beautiful, yet thought-provoking, pieces, she said.
One necklace she made features thread sewn inside oval metal links, each of which mimics a skin color.
The idea of becoming the so-called "starving artist" doesn't bother Andreasen.
"I have a house," she said. "I have a car. I got food. That's enough."
But other students have decided to stop producing art once they realize it doesn't pay the bills, Foote said.
"When money runs out they have two choices," said Foote, whose gallery displays mostly student-produced art. "They can struggle it out, sell
their work or they have to quit."
This leads to a perception that student artists are unreliable and makes it harder for them to establish credibility, Foote said.
"For students, it's really difficult because they don't have a sales record yet," Foote said.
Students are also more realistic now about the likelihood of making it big as an artist and are making plans for alternate careers, he said.
Cosenza said he's focusing on both architecture and art so he has one to fall back on if the other doesn't work out.
"I don't want to be a starving artist," he said. "It's so cliched."
No matter what, he said he would find time for his paintings.
"It's my passion," Cosenza said. "I don't want to lose it."
Reach the reporter at: grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
