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​BA (Hons) Fine Art

​Full time and part time

Artwork by Fine Art student James Eden

​Thinking - Making - Exploring - Creating

Fine Art today is an exciting, controversial and challenging subject open to people from all walks of life. An education in Fine Art can lead to a variety of career paths and offer rich opportunity for personal development. In parallel with contemporary art practice, the BA (Hons) Fine Art course at Plymouth offers a unique opportunity for students to follow their own path through a range of subject areas. We describe ourselves as ‘broad-based’ which means we are especially supportive of students who wish to work across or between areas, at the cutting edge of art practice.

Students can draw upon a range of disciplines including: 

  • Painting 
  • Sculpture (including Textiles/Fibre arts) 
  • Video, Sound and Performance work ('time-based' art) 
  • Photography   
  • Printmaking 
  • Site-based work

We offer our students the opportunity to study on a full or part time basis. We also offer the opportunity to study a joint honours programme in Fine Art/Art History.

A dedicated and experienced teaching staff are on hand to advise, support and challenge students throughout the entire course. Here are some of the key aspects you will be encouraged to examine: 

  • Personal responses - Yourself  Your experiences Your world 
  • Content - Looking at the subject of the work 
  • Form - Looking at the formal elements 
  • Process - How the work has been developed and made 
  • Aesthetics - Looking at the communication of mood, emotion, and other dimensions of experience 
  • Context - Taking a wider view

We strongly support, in partnership with studio practice, the development of theoretical and research skills, empowering our students to place themselves and their work in the cultural context of today.

Students have the opportunity to experience a range of visiting lecturers - people who are directly involved in the arts or engaged in relevant cultural debates (recent examples include: the nature of consciousness; issues of genetic manipulation; the politics of performance).

Student artwork

​Our specialismsstudent artwork - texture

  • We encourage collaborative and interdisciplinary practice (including work with new technologies)
  • We encourage students in their learning, helping them develop critical writing and research skills, across a range of areas of interest, in a supportive environment
  • Fine Art teaching staff are all practising artists, researchers or curators
  • The course has well-established links with overseas art and design institutions with opportunities for students to participate in accredited international exchange, and residency/placement programmes
  • Part-time study is available to allow greater flexibility for some students
  • Final year students are encouraged to develop new and innovative ways to present final year critical studies
  • We provide opportunities to take part in field trips throughout the UK and Europe

Studying BA (Hons) Fine art at Plymouth University

Lecturer Mike Lawson-Smith describes the wide range of media used in the course, as well as the practice and theory aspects. ​

Facilities - Resources- Environment Environment


 

We have a range of facilities and resources supportive of student work including: 
  • Studio spaces for full-time students
  • A fleet of AV computers/video/multimedia/sound studio resources
  • Fully equipped Print and Photo facilities
  • Textiles, ceramics and plasterwork workshops
  • Metalworking (and woodworking) facilities
  • Life drawing classes
  • Dedicated and supportive technicians

Our students work across two main sites: in Stage one you will be based in the
Roland Lewinsky Building where you will have studio space, access to workshops and other facilities and attend a lecture programme. In Stages two and three you will based in dedicated studio spaces at Plymouth’s Royal William Yard, situated on the waterfront (with provision of coffee shops and a pub). You will continue to have access to all facilities on the main campus, including library.

​Arts Degree Show 2011

The annual Arts Degree Show was a great success. This huge event incorporated the work of every final stage art, design  and media student. It is the culmination of three challenging years and a great opportunity for students to show their work off to friends, family, fellow students, prospective employers and the general public. For more information about the degree show including images please visit www.plymouth.ac.uk/artsdegreeshow

​Our vision

A Fine Art course that reflects international contemporary trends, extending links regionally, nationally and internationally in practice, research and scholarship.

​Award winners

Marcus Crandon and Ryan James

Final stage BA (Hons) Fine Art students Marcus Crandon and Ryan James design trophies for the prestigious Abercrombie Awards. Read the full story

​Fine Art Student success stories:

Our students have been included in the Jerwood Drawing prize for 3 years running, most recently James Eden and Olly Rooks were awarded the Student Prize for their submission: Burst 2010. 

  • 2010 James Eden & Olly Rooks, Winners of the Student Prize, Jerwood Drawing Prize: Burst.
  • 2009 Sean Maltby, Jerwood Drawing Prize: Smoothly Striating
  • 2008 Sean Maltby & Olly Rooks, shortlisted Jerwood Drawing Prize: Verbing

​​Aim

To support developing artists to realise their practice to the fullest possible extent, allowing the opportunity to explore and create in a supportive, challenging environment.

​Student voice

Rebecca Bellamy

Rebecca Bellamy, Fine Art Graduate

"Since Graduating from the BA (Hons) Fine Art course in 2010, I returned to my hometown of Bristol and began a six-month Arts Administration and Assistant Curation Internship at a Contemporary Art Gallery in North Somerset. After the six months I was asked to lead the curation of an exhibition of my choice, which was held in February 2011- a great experience! "

Sue Austin

 

Susan Austin, BA (Hons) Fine Art graduate 2009. Read more about Susan and her experiences at Plymouth
"The intellectual and practical demands of the Fine Art degree have enabled me to develop my thought processes, and research methodology and have given me the capacity to undertake critical visual and contextual analysis." 

​Part-time route

The Fine Art part-time course has exactly the same practical and theoretical content as the full-time course, but each stage is completed over two years rather than one. It is ideally suited to already established practitioners who wish to develop their work in the context of current theoretical ideas and to engage in meaningful critical dialogue. Course detail and module information

 

Meet the staff

 

All fine art studio teaching staff are practising artists, skilled in helping students find and develop their own ‘voice’. Visit the more information page for further information on the Fine Art team, including areas of interest and weblinks etc.

Staff images

BAS 7 logo

​17 September-4 December 2011
British Art Show 7 is the biggest exhibition of British contemporary art. It features works by 39 different artists, displayed at five venues throughout the city. Works include painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, film and performance. Plymouth is one of only three locations outside London selected by Hayward Touring to host this prestigious touring exhibition. The exhibition employs the motif of the comet to explore and draw together a set of concerns that thread their way through the practices of the selected artists. It alludes to the measuring of time, historical recurrence, and parallel worlds.

Supported by Plymouth City Council and Arts Council England and delivered by the Plymouth Visual Arts Consortium (PVAC).

For further information about the British Art Show 7 visit: www.plymouthbas7.org