Wolverhampton School of Art

Fine Art

BA (Hons) Part-time 6 years, Full-time 3 years

The BA (Hons) Fine Art course is a long established subject in the Wolverhampton School of Art (est.

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The BA (Hons) Fine Art course is a long established subject in the Wolverhampton School of Art (est.

  • Institute Code W75
  • UCAS Code W100
  • Entry Requirements View
  • Fees View
  • Course Specifications View
  • Start Date(s) 21 September 2020
  • Award BA (Hons)
  • Study Mode Part-time, Full-time
  • Course Length Part-time (6 years), Full-time (3 years)
  • Campus Location University of Wolverhampton
  • School Wolverhampton School of Art

Why choose this course?

The BA (Hons) Fine Art course is a long established subject in the Wolverhampton School of Art (est. 1851). As a student in Fine Art you will be able to engage with the diverse disciplines of contemporary Fine Art including painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film, video, photography, performance and installation. In addition to the broad contemporary Fine Art course the subject offers two specialist routes in ‘Painting and Printmaking’ and ‘Sculpture and Environmental Art’. Each area is supported by specialist tutors and facilities.

Wolverhampton's Art courses were ranked 27th out of those offered by 67 providers in the Guardian League Tables 2019. www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-guide-2019-league-table-for-art

The Fine Art course is located in the purpose-built Wolverhampton School of Art. You will have a top floor studio space of your own in the spacious Fine Art facilities and join a stimulating community of fine art practitioners where you can test ideas and discuss decisions/motivations/media processes in relation to your individually negotiated themes and practices. Our vibrant, well used studio becomes the base for your increasingly independent and personally-focused learning.

The Fine Art course aims to offer an open ended and practice–led approach to learning with students working from conceptual ideas through to the tools and materials of studio production. The course aims to fuse practical and material led practice with critical and contextual exploration. This fusion will enable you to develop a sustainable model of practice as a professional artist and teach you a range of transferable skills relevant to careers in the creative industries. At all levels of the course you will work alongside practicing artists and researchers who aim to teach through their specialist fields.

The Fine Art course aims to:

  • Encourage you to explore different media relevant to the development of your own work.
  • Support you to acquire knowledge and practical experience of working in painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Provide you with the opportunity to observe, discuss and take part in a sustainable model of studio-based practice alongside artist/practitioners who are engaged in their own work.
  • Enable you to develop an individually negotiated Fine Art practice informed by a relevant theoretical and contextual framework.
  • Develop critical and analytical skills in historical and critical research and writing.
  • Understand and locate your work appropriately within the broad and specialist contexts of your subject and research appropriate to your personal and career objectives.

What happens on the course?

BA (Hons) Fine Art is assessed on 100% coursework.

The curriculum is delivered through a series of projects which will give you the opportunity to develop making and designing skills, conceptual ideas, contextual knowledge and understanding and experience of live industry briefs/ external projects in the public domain.

Studio and workshop culture is core to our courses and you will be encouraged to become part of the art and design community through time spent working in the studios, workshops and labs available to students across the week.

All courses in the School of Art are now available with a professional placement (sandwich year) option.  A professional placement provides an opportunity for professional development in the work place and as such, greatly enhances the student’s prospects of finding rewarding and relevant employment at the end of their studies.

LEVEL 4

At level 4 you will have the time and space to evolve ideas in relation to current debates and concerns within visual art. You will be learning and acquiring the fundamental skills of Fine Art practice with close support from subject specialist artists/teachers through a combination of specialist workshop-based learning and studio practice, supported by seminars, tutorials and lectures.

LEVEL 5

At level 5 you will have the opportunity to broaden and test your art practice as part of a sustained studio culture. You will engage with the art community and external partners through a series of ‘Off Site’ projects and increasingly debate theoretical positions within your practice.

LEVEL 6

As a Level 6 student you will develop a more independent and outward facing approach to Fine Art practice. A concentrated period of studio practice will give you the confidence to independently manage your studio time, conduct and resolve ideas in your practical work and learn to present yourself confidently as an emerging artist in the outside world.

Why not check out what our students got up to for their final projects at our annual Degree Show 2019

Course Modules

Module: 4VA001
Credits: 60
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

This module aims to introduce you to the range of workshops, resources and staff working in Fine Art and across the School of Art and to provide you with specialist making and media instruction appropriate to your Fine Art practice. It is an intensive studio and workshop based module and throughout the year you will undertake a series of studio, workshop and material based projects that will provide a foundation for your emerging Fine Art practice. As a Level 4 student in the School of Art you will be supported to make the leap between your prior educational experiences and full time art practice. You will develop time management skills through structured tasks and increasingly you will be expected to make use of independent study hours to further test and progress your work in the studios and workshops. In this module you will also learn to document and record your work effectively and gain confidence in  reflecting on your work in sketchbooks, journals, group reviews and tutorials in relation to a range of contextual ideas, artists and  designers associated with project briefs and self-initiated work.

Module: 4VA002
Credits: 60
Period: 1
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

This module aims to provide you with the time and space to develop more independently driven responses to project briefs and to support you to become more experimental and speculative in the production of your work. The emphasis, in this module, is on process and practice rather than end product. Throughout the module you will be encouraged to test new approaches and ideas and to reflect on the successes and importantly, the failures of your work. In tutorials and group reviews you will be asked to reflect on these experiences and to consider how you might learn from speculation and the feedback of potential audiences to re-think and re-work your ideas. This module also aims to introduce you to a range of models of practice and contextual knowledge that will help you understand contemporary Fine Art practice and its relationship to audience and consumers more fully. You will engage in subject specialist lectures and seminars and produce a range of creative and academic contextual assignments that will directly link to the project briefs.

Module: 5VA007
Credits: 60
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

The module aims to enable you to respond to a range of contextual frameworks and studio based research activities by supporting you to develop different methods of visual and contextual research and experimentation. This will be through a series of tutor led workshops, a contextual lecture programme and the development of an extended studio based and contextual research project of your own making. You will develop tools for asking questions, exploring ideas and planning outcomes both in the studio and through engagement with external sites and organisations. This module will enable you to realise, review, test and discuss both in a written essay and in a programme of negotiated self-led practice the contextual research undertaken. You will be expected to explore through a body of work and a written essay your contextual position at the end of level 5 and pose significant ideas for progression to level 6.  

Module: 5VA008
Credits: 60
Period: 2
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

The modules at level 5 are designed to stretch and deepen your application of conceptual thinking and where appropriate to build upon media specific  (fine art/ p&P/ SEA) skills necessary to complete an individually negotiated programme of study. The module will enable you to acquire a deeper understanding of the relationship between ideas, materials and graphic or conceptual research processes, and how these can be used to support an expanded or traditional Fine Art studio practice In this module you will further develop your studio practice through a programme of (FA/ P&P/SEA) material and contextual research.  This will be realised through a series of tutor led workshops, lectures, seminars and the development of an extended material and contextual based research project of your own making. This module will enable you to increase and develop your awareness of a variety of theoretical concepts, issues and movements, which have affected or influenced the way in which creative practitioners in these areas think and work. Additionally, you will examine the importance of context for creating and controlling meaning within a contextual framework, for which your practice is located. This enquiry will extend to a wider audience through an off-site project in which you will develop arguments and/or solve problems through a continuing engagement with material, cultural, social, environmental and historical issues within the arts and demonstrate the critical thinking to site your work effectively outside of the studio.  

Module: 6VA008
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

This module will enable you to resolve your work to a professional standard and address appropriate personal and career objectives. In this module you will focus on professional ways of situating your practice in a specialized context and work towards professional opportunities and competitions in the Fine Art sector. This module, supported by a wide range of professional practitioners in the Creative Industries Project and this will enable you to position your work professionally and test your ideas in the Faculty of Art Degree Show. As part of the research project you will have the opportunity to demonstrate and expand on the critical and contextual dimension of your practice and present your findings through a variety of presentational platforms. Through the engaged and on-going studio practice you will be able to establish a sustained ability to reflect on your work and use the information to develop new work and an informed understanding of your practice.

Module: 6VA007
Credits: 60
Period: 3
Type: Core
Locations: Wolverhampton City Campus

This module aims to strengthen your work in order to develop a sustained and independent artistic practice.  The module consists of several concentrated studio ‘residencies’ throughout the year supported be specialist tutorials. The module will enable you to demonstrate a sustained and independent studio practice and to identify, understand and reflect on the connections between intention, process, outcome and context in your work. The dissertation project at the beginning of level 6 you will equip you with critical and contextual knowledge and familiarise you with theoretical and contextual frameworks relevant to your on-going practice to support your progress. The module will finally offer you opportunities, stimulated by the Creative Industries Project, to create networks with regional and national partners in the creative industries.  Your work will benefit from engagement with others and utilise personal development planning effectively to progress your work.

Potential Career Paths

You!

Visual Artist

Creative Producer

Social Enterprise Director

Educator - Primary, Secondary, Higher and Community

Curator

Gallery and Museum

Fabrication and Installation

Additional Information

Everything you need to know about this course!

The BA (Hons) Fine Art Course:

  • Is a diverse and vibrant course which embraces a wide range of specialist media and creative practices including painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Is taught in unique purpose-built, spacious and well-equipped studio spaces, supported by a wide range of workshops and facilities.
  • Provides access to an exceptional set of workshops including bronze foundry, a stone carving yard and a fully functioning glass blowing workshop through to the very latest audio-visual computers, digital manufacturing techniques and prototyping hardware. - check them out here
  • Has gained an excellent reputation in our student satisfaction surveys, in 2015 our Fine Art course scored a rating of 93% satisfaction among out students, putting us among the top Fine Art courses in the country.
  • Graduates go on to set up their own studio spaces, work in galleries, schools, community arts and many other professions, with high employment figures within six months of graduating.
  • Maintains a vibrant space for studio practice. As a student on the course you will have your own studio space and make work alongside other lecturers and artists. We run a host of one-to-one, group and lecture sessions, public lectures, a visiting speaker program and regular international study trips.
  • Is designed to provide you with the best possible creative education centred on employability and student support. At each level two yearlong modules allow you to experience and engage with projects of increasing complexity and varied timescales that reflect the breadth and flexibility of the contemporary Fine Art world.
  • Provides a carefully structured approach that encourages independent learning supported by an integrated delivery of contextual, theoretical, technical and practical skills.
  • Members of the National Association of Fine Art Education.

The members of academic staff who lead this course are Dr Christian Mieves & Simon Harris

The Fine Art subject area equips students with a wide range of skills and experiences appropriate to positions within the cultural and creative industries. This includes verbal and written communication, project management, creative thinking and problem solving, group work, self-directed research and independent learning, reflective and evaluative processes, making and directing skills, marketing, promotion and presentation strategies. The course aims to support and develop students’ vocational awareness and provides opportunities for educational placements and professional practices. Students build relationships to galleries, schools, art and health sector and the wider creative industries both through vocational modules or off-site projects. Specific career’s advice services offer extra support in the development of your general skills and your career.

The Fine Art course aims to:

  • Encourage you to explore different media relevant to the development of your own work.
  • Support you to acquire knowledge and practical experience of working in painting, sculpture, printmaking, conceptual and social practice, film video, photography, performance and installation.
  • Provide you with the opportunity to observe, discuss and take part in a sustainable model of studio-based practice alongside artist/practitioners who are engaged in their own work.
  • Enable you to develop an individually negotiated Fine Art practice informed by a relevant theoretical and contextual framework.
  • Develop critical and analytical skills in historical and critical research and writing.
  • Understand and locate your work appropriately within the broad and specialist contexts of your subject and research appropriate to your personal and career objectives.

Location Mode Fee Year
Home/EU Full-time £9250 per year 2019-20
Home/EU Full-time £9250 per year 2020-21
Home/EU Part-time £2975 per year# 2019-20
Home/EU Part-time £3050 per year# 2020-21
International Full-time £12000 per year 2019-20
International Full-time £12250 per year 2020-21
International Part-time £6000 per year# 2019-20
International Part-time £6125 per year# 2020-21

The University is committed to a transparent fee structure, with no hidden costs, to help you make an informed decision. This includes information on what is included in the fee and how fees are calculated and reviewed

# Undergraduate part-time fees for 50% rate of study

2019 Entry

  • BBC from ‘A’ levels
  • BTEC QCF Extended Diploma grade DMM; BTEC QCF Diploma grade D*D*
  • UAL Extended Diploma in Art & Design grade M
  • Foundation Studies (Art & Design and Art) grade D
  • Successful completion of a Foundation Course in Art and Design
  • Access to HE Diploma full award (Pass of 60 credits - of which a minimum of 45 credits must be at level 3 including 18 at Merit or Distinction)
  • If you've got other qualifications or relevant experience, please contact The Gateway for further advice before applying.
  • International entry requirements and application guidance can be found here

  • Successful completion of the International Foundation Year in Arts guarantees entry on to this course

Other Requirements

Those meeting the entry requirements may be shortlisted for a Portfolio Review. Applicants will also be required to provide satisfactory reference.

Students must have studied a minimum of two years post GCSE level. However, it is expected that some applicants will be mature students with work experience, who wish to further their career development. These applicants will be processed through standard procedures, which may involve an interview as part of the process. Please see http://wlv.ac.uk/mature for further information.

Applicants who do not meet the entry requirements may be offered an alternative course.

 

The University also offers a range of Bursaries and Scholarships in addition to other financial support packages

Tuition Fees Loan: If you wish, you can take out a Government Student Loan which covers the full course fee. You pay it back once you’ve left university and your income is more than £25,725 (from April 2019). More information on repayments can be found at: repayments.
It’s available to eligible full-time higher education students and does not depend on family income.

The amount of the Tuition Fees Loan is paid directly to the University of Wolverhampton by the Student Loan Company.

Visit student finance on the gov.uk website to find out more.

Self-funding: If you don’t want to take out a loan to pay your fees, you might want to take advantage of the University’s scheme to pay by instalments: see How to Pay.The funding available to you depends on when you started your studies and if you have been to University previously.

For more information please contact the Gateway.

Financial Hardship: Students can apply to the Dennis Turner Opportunity Fund (https://www.wlv.ac.uk/study-here/money-matters/financial-support/dennis-turner-opportunity-fund/) for help with course related costs however this cannot be used for fees or to cover general living costs.

Telephone

01902 32 22 22

Email

enquiries@wlv.ac.uk

Online

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George Wallis Building

George Wallis Building

Home to School of Art, the George Wallis Building’s many storeys are full of specialist kit to help you tell YOUR stories.
Specialist workshops

Specialist workshops

We’ve got outstanding 3D design workshops for wood, metal, engineering, welding and plastics – so you’ll learn to use some interesting new machines.
Media store

Media store

Need to borrow some hardware? No worries! Check out the media store to borrow cameras, microphones, mixers and more to support digital media and photography.
Libraries

Libraries

Our libraries offer helpful support and resources to aid your studies including: social learning and quiet study areas, bookable spaces, and 24/7 opening at key times in the year.
Study spaces

Study spaces

We’re got plenty of study spaces around campus – so you can find the ideal place to suit your style, wherever – and whenever – you get your best ideas.

World Class Facilities

World Class Facilities

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