Fine Art

On this course you will have flexibility to explore a wide range of traditional and emerging visual arts practices to develop your individual artistic voice. You can experiment with drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, video, photography, digital media and installation art to produce meaningful work that responds to our complex and changing world.

Around 70 per cent of your time will be spent in the studio where you will hone your skills in making and expression, creative risk-taking, experimentation and development. Each year you will be presented with different creative challenges with a curriculum that includes art history, contemporary practice, engagement with local organisations, as well as talks from visiting artists.

The course responds to the demands of the contemporary global art world and encourages you to engage in current practice by exploring themes such as multiculturalism, identity, and art activism. Skills in employability and professional practice will prepare you for working as a fine artist or to launch a career in the wider creative industries.

Key features

• We’ve been teaching art for over 120 years and today’s course continues our ethos of encouraging students to develop their creativity within a collaborative and experimental environment.

• We embed employability throughout the course and cover topics that include an introduction to studio practice, art practice and presentation, curating and installing exhibitions, marketing, fundraising and project planning.

• You’ll study in our award-winning Vijay Patel Building, where you’ll have access to dedicated Fine Art studio space and experiment with a range of facilities across our 25 industry standard workshops.

• Join the list of students who have exhibited at the Handmade Festival, the Two Queens gallery, the Attenborough Arts Centre and a host of other prestigious venues across both the UK and internationally.

• Leicester is a city buzzing with creativity, from colourful street art by GraffWerk and the annual Leicester Art Week festival, to the augmented reality art trail and DMU's own Leicester Gallery. Our partnerships in the city create exciting opportunities to showcase your work, including at Leicester's creative hub LCB Depot.

• Benefit from block teaching, where most students study one subject at a time. A simple timetable will allow you to really engage with your learning, receive regular feedback and assessments, get to know your course mates and enjoy a better study-life balance.

First year
Block 1: Investigation and Exploration 1
Block 2: Investigation and Exploration 2
Block 3: Development and Consolidation 1
Block 4: Development and Consolidation 2

Second year
Block 1: Studio Practice Development 1
Block 2: Art History and Theory 1
Block 3: Studio Practice Development 2
Block 4: Professional Practice 1

Third year
Block 1: Art Practice 1
Block 2: Art History and Theory 2
Block 3: Art Practice 2
Block 4: Professional Practice 2

Block teaching designed around you
You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments - rather than lots of exams at the end of the year - and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Structure
Individual studio practice, group projects, workshops, group criticisms, lectures, seminars, study trips and one-to-one tutorials form the basis of this studio-based taught course. You will use a journal to collate your research and as a space for reflection on your professional, creative and intellectual development. Contextual studies and art history lectures will deepen your understanding of the theories and histories of Fine Art.

The first year is designed to develop the key skills that every artist needs as the foundation of their practice. In the second semester the emphasis of teaching changes to enable you to synthesise your learning into a self-directed creative project of your own devising. You will be supported by regular tutorials and studio crits, as well as art history tuition.

In the first semester of the second year you will be able to choose a specialist area. From semester two of the second year until the end of the course, you will work on your own individual creative interests and develop your potential as an artist. The course culminates with an exhibition of your work in DMU's Festival of Creativity – your first engagement as a professional artist.

Contact Hours
In your first year you will normally attend around 13 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 21 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.