Portfolio/Interview
If the above criteria is met you will be asked to attend an interview. For this interview please prepare a portfolio of work, which should be simply mounted and accompanied by preparatory work. Sketchbooks are an important feature of your preparatory work and should be included. Where possible, 3D and large 2D work should be photographed. Digital and screen-based work should be saved on a CD or memory stick.
If you are an international applicant, please supply your portfolio on a CD.
The BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree Show celebrates a plethora of creative practice and for many of our students is their first major public exhibition. The exhibition also represents a significant transition in an artist’s practice as work leaves the secure studio for an exposed public space. This is a move away from the familiar working environment and a departure from a busy studio space shared with lecturers, technicians and fellow artists. The degree show breaks free from this space. The public exhibition has the excitement of a stage debut, where work has to stand alone and speak for itself.
Britain’s creative industries are worth £92 billion, employ two million people and are growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. This course will give you the skills to join this growing industry.
The tradition of art runs deep at Sunderland, but we don’t stand still. We’ve built on this history and experience, adding innovation and modern teaching approaches to create a course that gives our graduates the edge.
Our Fine Art team, all working artists, have a wealth of professional practice and subject expertise to help you realise your art aspirations. Guided by these experts you will have the freedom to explore your creative interests across a broad range of Fine Art practice including painting, printmaking, digital photography, film, sound, drawing, sculpture and performance.
Working collaboratively, you’ll learn to see the bigger picture and will develop highly adaptable skills, alongside your technical abilities. Throughout the course you’ll work towards live outcomes, building your confidence as an artist to promote yourself, your art and to understand the impact you can have as an artist in society.
More info: Click here
Year 1 (national level 4):
Core modules:
Start to develop your own personal studio Fine Art practice and exhibit work in the Fine Art Stage One show. You’ll be allocated your own studio space and have access to printmaking, wood, metal and digital/FabLab workshops.
Be introduced via a series of set projects to core Fine Art practical skills in painting, printmaking, digital photography, sound and sculpture.
Get an introduction to drawing principles, engage with diverse approaches to drawing using a wide range of ideas, materials and working methods.
Learn about some of the key art movements and ideas which shaped, and continue to shape, the world culturally.
Year 2 (national level 5):
Core modules:
Produce and expand your own visual work, and consider the form and the appropriateness of the medium in relation to idea, choosing from Fine Art’s wide area portfolio of subjects; painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, digital, performance and installation.
Develop your own studio practice towards installing a live exhibition open to a public audience or alternatively research and present a proposal for a participatory arts project.
Develop your understanding of how Fine Art practices are shaped by and help shape historical, social, cultural and political issues. Explore key contemporary debates around inclusivity, diversity, ethics and sustainability. Consider the broader social role of the artist, both gallery and socially engaged artists and identify artists who you admire as professional role models.
Negotiate a relevant placement where you will position your practical and creative skills, build networks and begin to identify
Final year (national level 6):
Core modules:
Research and produce a self-negotiated project, produce and publish an artist’s online and hard copy ‘Blurb’ art book, which reflects and evaluates your practice.
Pursue an individual programme of work for your final exhibition, selecting from drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture or new media. Work collaboratively towards event fundraising, catalogue publication, photographing work, posters, press releases, opening night hospitality, invigilation and exhibition tours. Learn to make work that confidently communicates your ideas effectively to an audience.
Select your own topic of research related to Fine Art or visual culture. Demonstrate your research by either written dissertation (3,500 – 4,500 words) or by a word document outlining your Fine Art research practice, including preparation for an arts funding application.
We aim to prepare you to become a confident professional, with transferable skills. Increasingly, creative workers follow a ‘portfolio’ career comprising a range of roles such as teaching in schools, colleges and universities, artist residencies, creative practitioner and as a practising fine artist. This makes for a really flexible lifestyle enabling you to extend your professional contacts, build your artistic practice and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Insurance-Single: 300 GBP/year
