Programme Specifications

N/A

August 2024

The programme aims to:

1. Offer advanced training in the subject of Fine Art.

2. Provide opportunities for students to develop specialised knowledge, understanding and proficiency in the discipline of their choice.

3. Provide opportunities for students to develop, sustain, consolidate and resolve a self-directed programme of work over an extended period.

4. Develop advanced understanding of relevant conceptual, theoretical and historical frameworks.

5. Encourage students to develop their aesthetic sensibility, creativity, curiosity, and artistic identity.

6. Provide knowledge and understanding in practicalities of exhibition preparation, installation and curation.

7. Provide opportunities for students to develop a broad range of subject-specific and transferrable skills that will equip them for further study and/or their future career (in particular as fine artists, art educators, professionals in the heritage sector, and cultural industries).

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:

A1 Selected disciplines, media and processes: their nature and techniques and the relationship between materials, ideas, processes, contexts and outcomes.

A2 The fundamental issues, contexts, concepts, theories, and debates (historical, contemporary, cultural settings) in art and visual culture and how they relate to the student’s artistic practice.

A3 The contemporary art world and cultural industries, including the variety of opportunities for graduate employment; the significance of the work of other practitioners; major developments in current and emerging media and technologies; the role and impact of intellectual property; and the issues which arise from artistic self-promotion, the creative practitioner’s relationships with audiences, galleries, clients, markets, environments, users, consumers, and/or participants.

A4 Factors related to initial employment in Higher Education teaching in fine art /Art History and professional business practice as artists.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods used to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated:

· 1:1 tutorials

· Small group tutorials and crits

· Seminars

· Lectures (synchronous and asynchronous)

· Workshops

· Guided independent practice

· Guided independent research

Assessment methods used to enable outcomes to be demonstrated:

· Portfolio

· Exhibition

· Professional projects

· Observation

· Reports

· Essay

· Visual analysis

· Reflective writing

· Presentation (live and recorded)

· Exhibition project

· Critical journal

· Literature review

· Annotated bibliography

· Essay plan

10.2.1 Intellectual Skills

B1 Creative skills: creatively and imaginatively conceive, produce, promote, and disseminate artefacts.

B2 Visual skills: to observe, record, analyse, translate, develop, and communicate.

B3 Interpretive skills: discern and explain the meaning and significance of works of art created by oneself and others, drawing on close observation, personal response, knowledge of techniques, relevant theoretical and methodological debates, historical context, and contemporary relevance; produce logical and structured narratives and arguments, supported by relevant evidence.

B4 Cognitive skills: find creative solutions to aesthetic, practical, and theoretical problems; generate ideas independently and in response to own enquiry; make connections between intention, process, outcome, context, and methods of dissemination.

B5 Open-mindedness: identify the merits of unfamiliar arguments or cultural artefacts and the merits or shortcomings of familiar ones; appreciate and evaluate divergent points of view and to communicate their qualities; engage constructively with feedback and critique of one’s own work.

10.2.2 Practical skills

C1 Making skills: develop a body of advanced and ambitious studio work through experimentation, technical innovation, and independent reflection on making in the creative translation of ideas into practice, drawing on research on historical and contemporary contexts, technical skill and knowledge in traditional and contemporary processes, and selecting and using materials, processes, and environments.

C2 Presentation skills: present bodies of work professionally and effectively, demonstrating awareness of audience and contexts; present and promote oneself as a creative professional; write text for a variety of purposes to support one’s artistic practice.

C3 Communication skills: communicate information, arguments, and ideas cogently and effectively within a range of discourses as appropriate to particular audiences, and in written, spoken, or other form using appropriate visual aids and information technology resources; particular abilities in the deployment of visual material in conjunction with written, oral, and other forms of communication; the ability to listen effectively, and to participate constructively in discussion and debate.

C4 Research skills: capacity for critical, effective, and testable information retrieval and organisation; ability to design and carry out a research project with limited tutorial guidance.

C5 Professional skills: fundamental skills appropriate to teaching, learning, and assessment in Higher Education and in promotion of artistic work.

D1 Teamwork: the ability to work constructively and productively in teams.

D2 Diligence: undertake and complete set tasks, whether routine and familiar or requiring the acquisition and application of new skills.

D3 Autonomy: generate ideas, concepts, proposals, solutions, or arguments independently; develop an independent practice that is informed by, but not dependent on, the work of others.

D4 Time management and personal initiative: work to own briefs and deadlines, including managing concurrent projects; take responsibility for one’s own work; reflect on one’s own learning and make constructive use of feedback; take shared responsibility for one’s own course of studies.

D5 Critical engagement: formulate and articulate reasoned, independent judgements and arguments, supported by analysis of evidence and experiences, and informed by, but not dependent on, the ideas and arguments of others.

D6 Problem solving identify, analyse, and creatively solve problems individually or as part of a team.

Transferable/key skills are generally incorporated within modules and assessed as part of the module’s learning outcomes (where appropriate). However, a number of these skills are specifically taught and learned within the context of a professional skill training modules: Vocational Practice.