Fine Art

UCAS code: W101

Here's what Arts University Plymouth says about its Fine Art course.

Our BA (Hons) Fine Art course is rigorous and questioning, encouraging diversity of approaches in thinking and making. Embark on a dynamic journey of artistic exploration with our interdisciplinary Fine Art course. We champion ambitious, self-directed, and critically engaged approaches to contemporary art, fostering an environment where creativity knows no bounds.

Throughout the course, you'll cultivate invaluable skills to critically question and actively create within a supportive community of like-minded artists. Explore diverse modes of practice and gain hands-on experience in the creative sector, forming lasting professional networks for your creative future.

Why Choose this Course? Our dynamic Fine Art degree prioritises contemporary art practice and critical inquiry, offering a studio-centred, interdisciplinary environment fostering artistic freedom and exploration. Through strategic partnerships with ambitious art spaces, you'll have opportunities to test, experiment, and exhibit your work in real-life settings. This course fosters individual artistic growth and exploration, focusing on practice-based study to nurture diverse artistic expression.

From traditional to cutting-edge techniques, access a range of practices spanning 2D, 3D, 4D, as well as workshops in sound drawing, performance painting, scale sculpture, performance, video, projection mapping, sound, traditional printmaking, welding, mould making, casting, critical and reflective writing. Refine your artistic practice in a nurturing environment that intersects creativity with social justice. Master working to briefs, exploring creative ideas solo and collaboratively, and expertly managing projects from inception to fruition.

This course provides opportunities for working collaboratively, deepening cultural understanding and exploring new processes in workshops. Students on this course will work in a learning environment that provides a meaningful link between your studio practice and contemporary art theory.

Led by a dynamic community of creative practitioners, our experienced academic team are active artists, writers, and researchers in contemporary fine art practice. Our curriculum celebrates diversity in thought and creation, encouraging collaborative exploration and the pursuit of new concepts and materials.

Gain Real-World Experience and Industry Exposure As a student you will develop an unrivalled understanding of the professional art world through our ongoing partnerships which include emerging and established galleries, museums, creative organisations and practising artists. In previous years, Fine Art students and staff have participated in Tate Exchange at Tate Modern, as part of the university’s commitment to socially-engaged forms of art and cultural practice. The university’s on-site public exhibition space, MIRROR, also draws a range of national and international artists and exhibitions, allowing you the opportunity to engage with artists through related workshops, talks and screenings.

You will learn to develop your understanding and relationships with regional and national organisations and practitioners as well as opportunities to engage with regional and national galleries and museums including KARST, Ocean Studios, Plymouth Arts Cinema, The Box Plymouth, Tate St Ives, Newlyn Gallery and The Exchange, Cornwall.

Recent international trips have included Berlin and the Venice Biennale. In addition, a visiting artist programme supports the progression and development of our students, creating strong regional and national links to professional partners and institutions, through residencies and exhibition projects that provide professional and graduate opportunities.

Graduates go on to become professional artists, curators, artists’ assistants, arts facilitators, exhibition organisers, arts administrators, lecturers and teachers, art conservators and framers, art handlers, community artists, gallery owners and more.

Our programme provides a dynamic and stimulating learning environment from which to test new models of practice, while investing in the rich relationship between practice and theory. We are committed to encouraging studio and post-studio practices, creating artwork that can inhabit a range of settings including galleries, artist-run spaces, and site-specific or event-based projects. You will be able to place your work within the wider context of contemporary fine art practice, helping to prepare you for your artistic career or continue your journey through postgraduate study.