Art - Fine Art
The BA Hons Fine Art offers practice-based study within painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, performance, lens-based media and history and theory. The Fine Art course reflects and supports the diversity of contemporary art practice including Painting, Video, Photography, Sculpture, Drawing, Performance, Printmaking, Time-based work, and studies in History and Theory. You are taught the practical, philosophical, contextual and professional aspects of art practice through blended learning in studios and online.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Ulster University |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Ulster University |
Duration
3 years.
Attendance
The course is full time and is delivered as a series of Studio Practice, History and Theory and Professional Practice modules. The relationship between these areas is fundamental to the contemporary study and practice of Fine Art and students are required to pass all modules at each level to progress.
Students taking the full time course are expected to attend campus and/or online five days a week.
In Year 1 and 2 Studio Practice Modules are 40 credits and students take one of these modules each semester. In Year 3 Studio Practice is 80 credits over two semesters. Students must attend scheduled artists lectures and talks, group critiques and workshops and individual tutorials. In Year 1 students also undertake two 20 credit History and Theory modules are expected to attend a lecture and seminars each week. In Year 2 there is a 20 credit History and Theory module which runs over two semesters, and a 20 credit Professional Practice module which also runs over two semesters. In Year 3, along with the 80 credit Studio Practice module, there is a 20 credit History and Theory module (the dissertation) and a 20 credit Professional Practice module. Timetables vary across the semester and module credits are equated with 10 effort hours per credit. Students are expected to conduct independent studio practice and study out with scheduled tutorials, workshops and lectures.
Entry Requirements
Irish Leaving Certificate
96 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.
Careers / Further progression
Graduate employers
Graduates from this course are now working for:
• The MAC
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland
• Arts Council of Ireland
• Belfast Print Workshop
• Seacourt Print Workshop
• Breakthru Films
• Warsaw
• Trademark Films
• London
Job roles
With this degree you could become:
• Artist
• Art Writing
• Curating
• Artist in Residence
• Assistant Technican
• Gallery Assistant
• Printmaking Technician
Career options
The Fine Art course prepares each student as an artist and thinker, who is able to sustain professional, critical art practice at local, national and international levels, and who can apply their skills, sensibilities and knowledge to wider fields of cultural work, practice and employment.
Students may choose to pursue postgraduate study and research in art practice to MA, MFA, MPhil and PhD level, either within the Belfast School of Art, MFA Fine Art or MFA Photography, or in other institutions in the UK, Europe and beyond. Students also go on to postgraduate study in theoretical, cultural and curatorial management, art therapy and other courses. The course also prepares students for the PGCE.
Fine Art education prepares graduates to be extraordinarily flexible and self-reliant. They are able to forge practices and working lives within changing and unpredictable environments both employed and self-employed. The course equips students with a range of professional and transferable skills and experiences.
Many Fine Art graduates practice successfully as artists, exhibiting in galleries; acquiring funding, awards and prizes; undertaking commissions, residencies and public art projects. Others enter careers in education, curating, writing, arts administration, journalism and broadcast media, the gallery and museum sector, community arts, design and the wider cultural industries. Many previous students of Fine Art in Belfast are internationally renowned, influential and award winning artists, curators, academics and writers, and include several Turner Prize nominees and winners.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Overview
BA Hons Fine Art offers practice-based study within painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, performance, lens-based media and history and theory.
Summary
The Fine Art course reflects and supports the diversity of contemporary art practice including Painting, Video, Photography, Sculpture, Drawing, Performance, Printmaking, Time-based work, and studies in History and Theory. You are taught the practical, philosophical, contextual and professional aspects of art practice through blended learning in studios and online.
Studio Practice centres on your development of an art practice. You work in studios under tutorial guidance. Individual tutorials give focused advice and studio critiques encourage the exchange of ideas and the development of critical understanding. Studio spaces are located adjacent to relevant workshops. Workshops include painting methods, printmaking, wood and metal, moulding and casting, audio-visual and video, photography and plastics. Studio practice includes artwork made in sites, public space, online, through social interaction, as installation, alongside more familiar aesthetic forms.
History and Theory increase your knowledge and understanding of historical and contemporary art practices and related ideas and debates. You are taught academic skills and methods and learn to write analytically about art and related concepts.
The Library, the largest in Northern Ireland, has a vast stock of art history, criticism and theory books, and catalogues; a wide range of art and design magazines and journals; artist’s films, videos, documentaries and cinema; and a unique collection of artists’ books.
Materials are provided for workshop demonstrations and students purchase materials for course work. There is an optional materials contribution of £100 per year.
About
You learn through the direct experiences of making art and of critical reflection within a studio environment. Studios, workshops and technical support are close by to best cultivate productive studio practice.
Modules
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
The course is broadly organised as a series of Studio Practice and History and Theory modules.
Year 1: You are introduced to the studio and philosophic culture of Fine Art. From the start you are encouraged to think for yourself and develop your ideas; to organise your working space and time; to be self sufficient; to become aware of art, artists and ideas connected to your work and to be inventive, imaginative and experimental. Making art, looking at art and discussing art and related ideas are central to the Fine Art ethos. You are also introduced to techniques, histories, theories, academic methods, skills and critical approaches which inform studio and written work.
Year 2: You develop confidence and a sense of identity as an artist and are encouraged to take increased responsibility for your practice; to explore more ambitious art projects; to become more self-critical; and to research and consider relevant art, artists and ideas in greater depth. You learn to thoughtfully articulate (in your practice, speech and writing) the questions, issues and debates relevant to your artworks and those of others; and you continue to test and extend your ideas, methods of making and aesthetic imagination. In second year you also develop professional skills and knowledge via experiences such as exhibition, placement, application or commission processes.
After successful completion of Year 2 you can opt to undertake a placement year, leading to the award of a Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP) or Diploma in International Academic Studies (DIAS). The DPP is generally European-based and workshop orientated. The DIAS allows for further study at an institution in either Europe or in the USA, under the Erasmus scheme, the Study USA scheme or the Year abroad scheme. You will obtain the appropriate award in addition to your degree's classification on successful completion of your Final Year. Many students avail of this exciting and valuable opportunity, and see a great benefit when they return to study in their Final year.
Year 3: You will make and exhibit art works in the professional, public context of the degree show, and submit a dissertation. In third year you further develop your practical, conceptual and aesthetic skills and the critical means to integrate them in the making of art works. You will articulate your practice and position as an artist in artist’s talks and statements and demonstrate your intellectual curiosity and enquiry through your practice and the subject matter of your written dissertation. In this final year, you consolidate the skills and knowledge necessary to sustain an independent art practice or to work as a practitioner and employee in wider cultural fields.
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.
Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.
Associate awards
Diploma in Professional Practice DPP
Diploma in International Academic Studies DIAS
Diploma in Professional Practice International DPPI
Work placement / study abroad
Various types of placement opportunities are provided within smaller professional practice and studio practice placements in galleries, arts and community organisations, artists‘ studios, schools, etc.
The year long Placement (DPP) provides an opportunity for you to gain first hand practical experience within a professional environment such as in galleries, arts and community organisations, artists‘ studios, schools, etc. prior to your final year of study. This module integrates education with the creative industries. It provides you with a range of experiences and skills relative to your practice, future career and professional development. The module is designed to facilitate opportunities for you to interpret and practice your academic knowledge, develop personal, transferrable, professional and entrepreneurial skills and develop a knowledge and understanding of the role of the practitioner within the creative industries.
The year long International Academic Studies (DIAS) option module provides an opportunity to undertake an extended period of study outside the UK and Republic of Ireland. You will develop an enhanced understanding of the academic discipline whilst generating educational and cultural networks.
During second year you are offered an Erasmus exchange. The University has links with a number of European higher education institutes, and the course has a particular relationship with art academies in Finland, France, Spain and the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb.
Ulster University,
2-24 York Street,
Belfast
BT15 1AP
T: 02870 123 456