Fine Art Mixed Media with Foundation BA Honours - Courses
Program Overview
The Fine Art Mixed Media BA Honours degree is an innovative program that emphasizes individualized studio practice and experiential learning. Students work across disciplines within fine art, developing a unique body of work through lectures, tutorials, workshops, and gallery visits. The program culminates in a degree show at a prestigious London gallery, preparing graduates for diverse careers in the fine arts industry.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The Fine Art Mixed Media BA Honours degree is an innovative program designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge to explore and develop work across boundaries within the ever-expanding contemporary fine art disciplines. The program encourages students to work across disciplines or within more traditionally defined areas of practice, while referencing relevant critical and theoretical debates. The program emphasizes highly individual approaches to studio practice, coupled with an emphasis on experiential learning. It aims to foster creativity, individuality, and personal growth, allowing students to negotiate their own individual program of study with tutors once they have acquired basic skills. The program is taught by practicing artists with national and international profiles working in and across the mediums of sculpture, painting, moving image, performance, photography, and sound. Students benefit from state-of-the-art facilities and workshops at the forefront of current technical innovation. The program's teaching and learning methods encourage students to create a body of work characterized by personal commitment and an increasing sense of autonomy. Teaching methods include lectures, tutorials (individual and group), presentations, crits, workshops, and gallery visits and talks.
Outline:
The program is structured over four years, including a Foundation year.
Foundation Year:
- Subjects of study include (across 5 core modules):
- Introduction to Academic Practice
- Critical Thinking for Academic and Professional Development
- Art and Design Explorations
- Making and Modelling
- Seeing and Doing
Year 1:
- Subjects of study include:
- Introduction to Fine Art Mixed Media Practice
- Creativity and Collaboration
- Contemporary Fine Art Practice Experimentation
- Sources of Contemporary Fine Art Practice
Year 2:
- Subjects of study include:
- Contemporary Fine Art Practice 2.1 Exploration & Development
- Concepts of Contemporary Art Practice
- Contemporary Fine Art Practice 2.2 Presentation
- Contemporary Fine Art: Ideas & Form
- Work Based and Placement Learning
- The Critical image
- Photography in Context
Placement Year:
- Subjects of study include:
- Industry Placement Module (optional)
Year 3:
- Subjects of study include:
- Contemporary Fine Art Practice: Research and Development 3.1
- Research Project
- Contemporary Fine Art and Professional Practice: Realisation 3.2
Assessment:
The program utilizes a variety of assessment methods, including:
- Practical: Presentations, videos, podcasts, lab work, creating artefacts
- Written exams: End of semester exams
- Coursework: Essays, reports, in-class tests, portfolios, dissertation
Teaching:
The program's teaching methods focus on active student learning through lectures, seminars, workshops, problem-based and blended learning, and practical application where appropriate.
- Faculty: The program is taught by practicing artists with national and international profiles.
- Unique Approaches: The program emphasizes experiential learning, individual studio practice, and encourages students to negotiate their own program of study with tutors.
Careers:
The Fine Art Mixed Media BA Honours degree prepares students for a range of roles, including:
- Advertising executive
- Artist
- Arts educator
- Curator
- Features writer
- Journalist
- Gallery owner or director
- Moving image production professional
- Museum archivist
Other:
- The program is based at the Harrow Campus, which houses state-of-the-art facilities for every discipline, including project and gallery spaces, film studios, creative labs, collaborative learning spaces, and the Westminster Enterprise Network.
- The Harrow Campus is located in north-west London, just 20 minutes from the city centre by train.
- Students have access to dedicated, high-specification studios for art and design courses, including 3D making facilities, laser cutters, 3D printers, photographic studios and darkrooms, professional moving image production facilities, traditional printing processes, and dedicated digital facilities.
- Students have the opportunity to take part in field trips abroad and within the UK. Past destinations have included New York, Berlin, the Venice Biennale, and the Kassel documenta.
- Students exhibit their work regularly throughout the course, culminating in their degree show at the internationally acclaimed central London gallery space, Ambika P3.
- The University of Westminster is ranked in the Top 10 in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2023 Fine Art subject ranking.
- Westminster is ranked 2nd in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023 for ‘Research Quality’ in Art and Design.
- The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.
- The program offers dedicated professional practice modules to help students develop strong links within the fine art sector in London and beyond.
- Students have the opportunity to undertake an optional year-long placement within the creative industries.
- The program encourages students to learn through exhibiting their work.
- The program provides access to free online courses in Adobe and Microsoft Office applications, as well as thousands of specialist courses on LinkedIn Learning.
- The program offers a range of scholarships to eligible undergraduate students.
UK Fees: £9,250 (Price per academic year) International Fees: £17,000 (Price per academic year)
