Fine Art BA (Hons)
Bath Spa University
Key Information
Campus location
Bath, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
3 - 4 years
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 16,075 / per year *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* international students full time - UK full time £9,250
Introduction
A studio-centred fine arts degree, encouraging independent enquiry and delivered by practising artists.
- Outstanding programme of visiting speakers, including internationally acclaimed artists and curators.
- Exceptional academic and technical support in painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, film, sound, performance and photography.
- Excellent studios, making spaces, technical support and workshops.
This studio-centred course offers you the opportunity to explore the disciplines of painting, sculpture, performance, installation, printmaking, and lens-based and digital media.
The Fine Art course is characterised by a profound synergy between academic and technical teaching and learning. You'll work towards an independent, critical and reflective practice, supported through tutorials, workshops, lectures, study trips and, in the first year, weekly contact with your personal tutor.
Our lecturers are engaged in their own practice as artists, bringing a contagious energy to the dialogue and exchange with students. In this community, students, tutors and dedicated technicians work together to understand and develop what contemporary art can or should be today. You’ll develop the skills you need for a successful career - as an artist or in a related profession.
Ideal Students
This course is designed for individuals who are curious, motivated and want to develop their own independent art practices. Applications and places are sought after.
We highly recommend that applicants undertake a pre-degree foundation diploma in Art and Design.
Career Opportunities
Our graduates go on to become, among other things, professional practising self-employed artists; they become curators in established galleries or set up their own artist-run spaces. We have alumni who are teachers or work in gallery education; others have gone on to work in conservation, TV, or Art Therapy.
Many of our alumni go on to further study at some of the UK’s top postgraduate courses including the Slade School of Fine Art, Chelsea School of Art and Design, The Royal College of Art, The Royal Academy Schools, and Glasgow School of Art and the Courtauld Institute.
Gallery
Facilities
Curriculum
The course is aimed at the development of studio practice in painting, drawing, sculpture, film, photography, performance and sound. The structure of the course leaves room for not knowing, experimentation, discovery, risk and innovation.
This course promotes curiosity, risk and innovation. It aims to develop your skills of analysis, self-criticism, reflection and communication - both verbally and visually - as well as the practical skills you need.
It is critical that you understand current and historical debates in art, and through a programme of Contextual Studies we encourage you to consider how theory and contextual knowledge is embedded in practice.
Delivered by specialists in the field, the Professional Practice module aims to equip you with the skills you need to build a successful future. Taught sessions support you to photograph work, build blogs/websites, write artist statements, fundraise, network, manage projects and curate exhibitions.
Course structure
Year one
Experimentation with materials, techniques and processes is foregrounded. You'll establish a way of working that is playful and analytical. Through this process, you'll begin to recognise the themes that are emerging in your work. The year is filled with a range of inductions and workshops to support your practice.
Year two
This is a pivotal period of development in which we will support you to progress in your ideas, conceptual strategies and processes. Experimentation remains key, alongside a greater emphasis on individual research, reflection and analysis. We will encourage you to develop a more focused awareness of the debates that surround your practice and continually test its boundaries and possibilities. Off-site exhibitions, projects and other initiatives support you to consider your work beyond the studio.
Year three
You'll build on and extend the ideas you explored in the previous year. As a final year student, greater emphasis is placed not only on a body of resolved, considered and well-executed work but also on work that is ambitious and takes risks. At the end of the year, you'll present work in a degree show that is open to the public.
How will I be assessed?
The course is made up of summative and formative assessments. Formative assessment takes place with the work in the studio and is ongoing throughout the duration of the course. Feedback is given verbally and through written reports from a personal tutor. Summative assessments take place at the end of modules. Assessments take the form of a presented body of work, an exhibition, reflective/academic text or live presentations.
How will I be taught?
Teaching takes the form of one-to-one tutorials, group critiques, academic workshops, seminars, lectures and forums.
Our visiting lecture series is fundamental to our course and we are proud of the range of speakers we attract. Each week internationally acclaimed artists, curators and arts professionals give talks about their work, teach in the studios or deliver an exciting range of workshops driven by their research interests.
All the teaching team are engaged in their own practice and this is critical to the philosophy of the course.
Study options
Integrated Foundation Year (UCAS code: W103)
The preliminary and intensive Integrated Foundation in Art and Design is designed to develop your ideas, skills and confidence in readiness for progressing to year one of your degree programme.
Professional Placement Year (UCAS code: W102)
This year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for, and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.
By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.
Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.
On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio detailing your development on your placement for assessment.
Projects
No Working Title
A collaboration between four UK art schools and Tate Modern. Our department is delighted to be one of the associate partners of the new Tate Exchange project, which will host and support the development of No Working Title over the next three years. Every year 40 students take part in this project.
You can engage in off-site exhibitions throughout your course of study. Sites have included abandoned shops or buildings throughout the city or beyond.
The Porthleven Prize
Students are selected to take part in a residency on the Cornish coast and produce new work in response to the site. This work forms part of a national touring exhibition.
The London exhibition
After the degree show event at the Bath School of Art, Film and Media, our year 3 students are supported to take their degree shows to London. These shows have taken place at landmark sites throughout the city and attract attention from galleries and other arts professionals.
Study abroad
You’ll have the opportunity to study in a wide range of locations around the world. Our students have completed exchange programmes in a variety of countries including Spain, Sweden and the USA.
Fieldwork
Study visits play an integral part of the course both within the UK and beyond. Trips have included the Liverpool Biennale, Berlin (artists studio visits), Rome, New York, Venice Biennale, Paris (artists studio visits), Istanbul Biennale and The British Arts Show, Leeds. We run up to 5 trips to London every academic year.
Work placements, industry links and internships
Our students take up a variety of work placements, internships or opportunities in the creative industry from the ICA, Hauser and Wirth, the Holburne Museum and Spike Island to working as assistants with internationally acclaimed artists or prestigious commissions in nationally acclaimed heritage sites.
Our Fine Art department is one of Tate Exchange's official associates, and we are excited to see what being part of this initiative will bring to the course.
Admissions
Program Tuition Fee
Scholarships and Funding
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the university website for more information.
English Language Requirements
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