Postgraduate Courses in Fine Art
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Applicants to postgraduate courses in Fine Art usually have gained a BA Honours Degree and can demonstrate a sophisticated appreciation of visual and conceptual issues related to contemporary practice. Some applicants wish to progress directly from undergraduate courses whilst others wish to return to an academic environment as a career break. Usually applicants demonstrate an appetite for discursive engagement with a creative peer group and also a strong interest in using institutional workshops and libraries. Often applicants want to work with artist/tutors and develop a more comprehensive grasp of external art world conventions and institutions. Web search: ‘MA Fine Art’ and you will access a wide range of approaches to graduate study programmes with each university, school or college accentuating their philosophical approach to contemporary creative practice. You will be offered course descriptions and downloadable leaflets / application forms as well as information on open days. So how do you select the most suitable course to support your postgraduate study plans?
First of all you should consider whether you want to study a postgraduate courses in Fine Art within the context of a traditional disciplinary group of say painters or sculptors or whether you would prefer a grouping that is multidisciplinary and therefore reflexive in its relationship to contemporary creative practice. Both approaches can facilitate serious and challenging study programmes for applicants who are critically aware of their own strengths and preferences. Masters programmes extend each student’s conceptual, visual and technical abilities by providing a serious critical context in which to examine and discuss their ideas and art works. This is usually achieved in a structured programme of tutorials, seminars and critiques that facilitate one to one encounters with visiting artists set against a background of continuous peer group explorations of current art world practice. Direct experience of professional art works through visiting exhibitions will also play an important part in gaining a precise appreciation of how artists express distinct qualities in their works.
Secondly you need to decide whether you are going to apply for a full or part-time course. Most schools and colleges offer both. Typically a fulltime route will last approximately 43 weeks with only short vacation breaks at Christmas an Easter. This is an excellent route for anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the academic programme, have continuous use of a studio space and negotiated access to workshops throughout the week. Because graduate fine art students are active artists you will need to ensure that the institution you choose has the technical facilities that can support and extend your creative practice. What’s most important to you – a drawing workshop, a bronze foundry, a digital audio visual suite, a photographic laboratory; or a good studio space where you can create paintings and sculptures, negotiated access to a combination of facilities, a vibrant visiting lecturer programme, and an established school gallery?
Alternatively you may choose a part-time route which will normally take about 86 weeks. In most cases you will be expected to demonstrate that you have a suitable external studio or workroom where you can develop your creative work. This is an excellent option for anyone who wants to fully participate in the course’s academic programme, gain negotiated access to workshops and benefit from peer group critical debate whilst maintaining external commitments. It is also a popular route for applicants who are undertaking in-service professional development.
Once enrolled you are likely to find your life punctuated by units, modules and electives which may be either taught or self-negotiated. Essentially these academic programmes are timetabled routes that actively address creative, contextual, critical and theoretical issues related to fine art practice.
Taught modules/units may emphasise peer group examination of your works whilst self-negotiated periods of study will require you to propose and plan research projects and/or practice periods that centre upon your own creative interests. Electives may allow you to acquire specific competencies e.g. ‘Career Development’ or undertake internal or external collaborative work. All aspects of your course of study should be explained in the ‘Course Handbook’ so you can quickly gain an understanding of how these academic programmes relate to each other as a series of planned learning opportunities and assessment points. However, underlying all Masters level fine art courses is the assumption that each student is an independent, pro-active artist who will develop their own creative practice by rigorously interrogating and testing their concepts and methods.
A Masters Degree in Fine Art is the internationally recognised outcome of a successfully completed period of study that usually concludes with a public exhibition of art work. Master Exhibitions are assessed according to each institution’s published guidelines which are subject to verification by external examiners and national quality agencies.
Afterwards, Masters Course graduates frequently take up professional roles in education and the wider art world as well as developing careers as self-employed artists. Some enrol for research degrees in conjunction with academic employment whilst others take posts in galleries and museums. Most graduates are innovative and therefore able to manage complex multi-tasking combinations of salaried and freelance work. Studying a postgraduate course in Fine Art will put you ahead in whichever career path you choose.
Colin Nicholas, Course Leader MA Fine Art Norwich School of Art & Design, UK
