Welcome to your Fine Art course

The BA (Hons) Fine Art program at Staffordshire University recognises the diversity and vibrancy of contemporary art. Our goal is to offer you an educational structure that will help you develop your own artistic practice within a stimulating and challenging setting. We believe that fine art education should be closely connected to current contemporary art practices, addressing their main issues and themes.

Our overall aim is to provide you with a diverse range of educational opportunities in fine art, aiming to inspire and assist you in advancing your personal interests and nurturing your growth as an artist to achieve a high level of individual fulfillment. We are dedicated to supporting you in developing your creative, intellectual, practical, professional, and personal skills.

We are here to help you develop a deep understanding of the concepts, methods, and procedures that shape art practice. Our aim is to support and nurture your individual creativity through a range of art processes, skills, and practices that align with your artistic ideas and aspirations. Additionally, we want to guide you in gaining a deeper understanding of the theory and history of the subject to provide a strong foundation that will underpin your practice.

Across all levels and modules, we aim to provide our graduates with a critical awareness through inquiry-based learning, subject knowledge and skill acquisition. Throughout the three years of the degree, you will develop an understanding of reflective practice and problem solving and will be increasingly encouraged and enabled to take ownership and responsibility for your own learning, both as an individual and as a team member, where the ability to interact with confidence, communicate effectively and work with peers and colleagues is paramount.

As you embark on your first semester, we will to encourage you to embrace a speculative and experimental approach to working with materials. This will assist you in establishing your own studio practice and discovering your artistic voice. Throughout this semester, you will have the opportunity to work on both individual and group projects, making use of your studio space and workshop facilities. Our aim is to introduce you to fundamental skills in fine art practice, such as material experimentation, visual analysis, and visual research. We will provide you with the support to start and develop your individual artistic practice and to create a personal response to research interests discussed in tutorials and crit groups. Additionally, we will introduce you to basic resourcing, investigative, and documentation skills, focused on the context of fine art. We are here to help you every step of the way.

Find out what’s happening in the art world.

Getting up to speed on what’s going on in the art world can seem quite overwhelming, with so much information out there that it’s hard to know where to start. We recommend setting up a dedicated Instagram account for your art practice, so you can post your own artworks and also follow galleries that you might one day hope to exhibit with. We suggest that you begin by following our curated top ten of art-related Instagram accounts:

Tate: the foremost network of modern and contemporary art museums in the UK

(https://www.instagram.com/tate/)

Art Review: art magazine focusing on contemporary art

(https://www.instagram.com/artreview_magazine/)

Studio International: long-standing art journal, covering all aspects of contemporary practice

(https://www.instagram.com/studio.international/)

Frieze: leading contemporary art and culture magazine

(https://www.instagram.com/frieze_magazine/)

Art Forum: influential US-based art magazine

(https://www.instagram.com/artforum/)

The Art Newspaper: art news and information about international art market trends

(https://www.instagram.com/theartnewspaper.official/)

Artsy: online art discovery and collecting platform

(https://www.instagram.com/artsy/)

Institute of Contemporary Art: at the heart of radical art and culture, exhibiting contemporary art in all media

(https://www.instagram.com/icalondon/)

National Portrait Gallery: historical and contemporary portraiture, in all media

(https://www.instagram.com/nationalportraitgallery/)

You’ll soon find other galleries and artists to follow – but these are a great place to start.

Your first week with us will be spent settling in, meeting your tutors and fellow students, and setting up your studio space. Here are a few things you might find useful to bring with you on your first week:

• Notebook and pen - you will need a small notebook (A4 or smaller) for taking notes at the various talks you’ll be going to during Welcome Week. An artist should never be without a pen or pencil, so please make sure you have these with you at all times.

• Sketchbooks - you’ll also need sketchbooks in which to produce rough drawings, collages, and so on, but we recommend you buy these at our on-campus art shop, as it’s usually cheaper than the high street.

• Small padlock – we provide lockers for safe storage in our studio spaces, so please try and bring a small padlock so you can use your locker immediately.

• Diary – whether you prefer a paper diary or a calendar app on your phone, you will need to be able to keep track of your appointments and your timetable, so a diary of some sort is essential. Academic diaries can be picked up at the student shop, or you can set up a calendar app on your phone for free.

• Paint, canvas, board, and other art materials – these don’t need to be purchased in advance, as we recommend buying them as you need them from the on-campus art shop.