This course explores what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century, and considers the role of contemporary art in modern society.
You'll have the opportunity to experiment using a range of Fine Art media including painting, drawing, casting, installation, curation, sculpture, performance, photography, film, video, sound, and print. As you move through the course, you'll choose an area which best suits your own practice.
Professional practice is a key feature of this course, and throughout all three years of study you'll work alongside and within Nottingham's thriving visual arts scene.
Key features
- Create connections with Nottingham's wider art community through our graduate and staff network, and benefit from our extensive links with festivals, art organisations and artists' groups, both nationally and internationally.
- Study a curriculum that will build your confidence from start to finish.
- Have the support of academic and technical staff who are practising artists in their own right.
- Experiment with a range of different media and then focus on your individual interests.
- Attend our Live Lecture programme that features national and international artists, creative practitioners, and theorists.
- Take part in exhibitions and professional events at NTU and at galleries around the city.
- Attend optional study trips to international destinations such as Berlin, New York, and Copenhagen.
- Work in our dedicated fine art studios, alongside students from other years of the course.
- Follow in the footsteps of Kayt Hughes, winner of the prestigious Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize.
- 95% of graduates go on to employment or further study within six months of graduating. (DLHE survey 2015/16)
- Be assured that 91% of students are satisfied with this course (National Student Survey 2017).
Student work
- Work by Briony Cousins
- Work by Emma Freedman
- Work by Ilona Sunderland
- Work by Jennifer Storey
- Work by Perry Henley
- Work by Reece Straw
- Work by Trixy Griffiths
- Work by Hannah Lockwood
How you're taught
On this course, you'll spend most of your time in a creative studio environment. Teaching and learning experiences will include:
- individual and group tutorials and presentations
- year meetings
- Context Talks and the Live Lecture programme
- technical advice and workshops
- visiting lecturer tutorials
- studio lecturer tutorials (sign-ups)
- career guidance
- organised study trips
- Degree Show guidance.
Assessment
Assessment for this course is 100% through coursework.
In each module your Research Portfolio evidences the ongoing documentation of work in development. It is a visual and textual record that include documentation of your practice, the communication of your research, and critical analysis and evidence of self-evaluation.
Other assessment methods include exhibition, individual and group presentations, seminars, and the submission of written and visual material.
You will be assessed at the end of each module and awarded a grade band.
You will receive feedback throughout the module so you know what level you are working at. To progress through the course you must achieve 120 credits each year.
Your final degree mark will be based 100% on your final year work.
Trips and study visits
You'll have the opportunity to go on a number of mandatory and optional trips during the course.
In Year One you will go on a study visit in the UK, to destinations such as Liverpool Biennial festival and London galleries. In Year Two you will have the option to go on a study visit; Glasgow International festival is a recent destination.
Recently we have also offered optional overseas trips to New York, Berlin and Copenhagen to students from all years of the course.
Exchange opportunities
The University is part of the Erasmus+ programme and has agreements with partner institutions throughout Europe. If you're thinking about studying part of your degree abroad, Erasmus+ is a great way to do this.
Exchange destinations for our Fine Art students include Bremen in Germany and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
A recent international masterclass programme has also given selected students the opportunity to work on a group project, travelling to Florida in the USA and Antwerp in Belgium.
Degree Show
You will exhibit your work as part of our Degree Show. This event includes all final-year students across NTU's Art and Design courses, and is a great platform for you to showcase your work to members of the creative industries.
Assessment methods
- Year 1 coursework (100%).
- Year 2 coursework (100%).
- Year 3 coursework (100%).
Contact hours
A full-time student on average can expect to spend 1200 hours a year learning which will typically be broken down as follows:
- Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (24%), independent study (76%).
- Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%), independent study (80%).
- Year 3 lectures/seminars/workshops (22%), independent study (78%).
Careers and employability
A high proportion of graduates stay in Nottingham to pursue artistic activities. Many go on to become artists or to work in related roles, such as curators, teachers, gallerists, animators, musicians, community artists, and film-makers. Some go on to use the skills and experience they've gained to enter careers in journalism, media, photography, web design, interiors, landscape design, and education.
Employability for this course is excellent, with 95% of graduates going on to employment or further study within six months of graduating (DLHE survey 2015/16).
Successful and notable graduates from this course include:
- film director Simon Ellis
- painter Nigel Cooke
- artist and illustrator Jon Burgerman
- curators Hannah Conroy and Ashley Gallant
- artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster
- award-winning landscape designer Sarah Price
- artist Mia Taylor
- video artist Marianna Simnett
- artist Rebecca Beinart
- artist Yoko Hayashi
- artist Trevor Woolery
- sculptor David Batchelor.
Hear from our Fine Art alumni
YouFirst – working with our Employability team
Our friendly, experienced careers consultants will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice you won't find in a book or on the internet. You can benefit from this at any time during your studies, and for up to three years after completing your course.
Links with the creative community
This course is set against the backdrop of Nottingham's exceptionally strong arts community. The city is internationally recognised as a centre of world-leading artistic innovation and creative business. Over recent years Nottingham has become a vibrant hub for new and emerging artists, boasting a diverse and thriving network of galleries, art spaces, and design collectives.
You'll benefit from NTU's wealth of contacts and links with regional and national art organisations, galleries, and collectives. Our Fine Art students have recently exhibited publicly at venues like Surface Gallery, Hopkinson Gallery, Bohunk Gallery, and One Thoresby Street, as well as other pop-up galleries around the city centre. Many of our graduates choose to stay in Nottingham after their studies, and develop career paths within the city's art scene.
Our Live Lecture programme runs throughout all years of the course. It welcomes national and international artists, creative practitioners and theorists including:
- Susan Collis
- Alex Farquharson
- Jack Strange
- Juneau Projects
- Jordan Baseman
- Simon Callery
- Mark Leckey
- Bedwyr Williams
- Harrison and Wood
- Kevin Hunt
- Sean Edwards
- Jo Addison
- Pil and Galia Kollectiv
- Richard Wentworth.
Keep up to date with our Live Lectures and other public events involving Fine Art students, graduates and staff on our NTU Fine Art Live Facebook page.
Professional practice and internship opportunities
You will be supported in undertaking work experience and collaborative working with external art organisations, galleries, and collectives. You'll have access to:
- a database containing contacts for potential work placements
- collaborative opportunities for project development, exhibitions, and shows of work.
You will benefit from opportunities to collaborate on projects and exhibitions with a range of prestigious Nottingham institutions, including:
- Nottingham Contemporary
- New Art Exchange
- Broadway Cinema
- One Thoresby Street
- Primary
- Backlit
- Surface Gallery
- Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery.
Fine Art students at NTU also benefit from collaborative opportunities with our staff and technicians.
The Summer Lodge
After the summer term, all staff are invited back into the fine art studios for a ten-day period, together with recent graduates and guest artists, to make and share work. There are opportunities for students to assist professional artists and to participate in debate and discussions; during each year's Summer Lodge there is a day-long symposium on a theme related to artistic and research enquiry.
The Winter Lodge
Over the Christmas break the Fine Art team interrogate one another's artistic and / or research enquiry over a few days. The themes and issues arising from this work form the basis for both future projects and the contexts for talks over the spring term.
Competitions
Our Fine Art students enter competitions as available and relevant to their areas of practice. The main focus of this course is on developing collaborative relationships with external art organisations and practices.
Recent examples of competitions students have taken part in include the Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Prize (Kayt Hughes won in 2015), Harbin International University Snow Sculpture competition, the Saatchi Gallery's New Sensations, Bloomberg New Contemporaries, The Jerwood Drawing Prize, and the ING Prize.
Facilities
Our extensive Fine Art studios and workshops are based in the Bonington building, a dedicated Art and Design building. Facilities and equipment include:
- video editing facilities
- metal workshops adapted for specialist metal usage
- woodworking workshop and equipment
- resin and plastics development equipment
- polymer 3D printer
- vinyl cutter
- hand screen printing, transfer printing, and collograph printing
- both black-and-white and colour darkrooms, enlargers and processors
- three full-size photographic studios with backgrounds and lighting
- glass kilns for glass work
- potter's wheels
- a ceramic digital printer
- casting and moulding equipment
- bookable project spaces for developing and testing work.
