Course overview
This course is designed to propel you forward as an artist and creative leader in today’s dynamic art world. Get ready to explore, experiment, and collaborate in a vibrant community of artists and thinkers. You'll gain:
- Creative leadership: advance your understanding of your role as an artist and leader in the creative sector.
- Global perspectives: dive into key themes and discourses in local and global contemporary art contexts.
- Collaborative community: join a community of artists united by shared and unique goals.
- Innovative practice: develop your studio practice through creative, experimental, and research-informed methods central to today’s art scene.
- Professional growth: expand your intellectual and professional horizons with world-leading tuition and exclusive access to the MIMA partnership and Middlesbrough Collection.
Unlock your potential and deepen your connection with the art world at an advanced level as you unlock limitless creative opportunities, allowing you to turn your passion into a fulfilling career. Whether you're drawn to traditional media or cutting-edge contemporary practices, the skills and vision you develop prepare you to make a meaningful impact in the art world and beyond.
Here are some exciting paths available after completing your degree: professional artist, art curator, art director, art educator, creative entrepreneur, art therapist, public artist, art consultant, set or prop designer.
Top reasons to study this course at Teesside University:
- Collaborative modules: our MA courses include interdisciplinary modules where you’ll can interact with people from other MA subject areas, widening your perspectives and network. Modules are also delivered in a condensed way to help you balance your other commitments.
- Industry-standard facilities: you have access to our wood, metal, print, photography, and fabric workshops, providing space to explore new techniques.. Our technical team support you to realise concepts that might have seemed impossible to achieve.
- Personal studio: your own studio for the duration of your studies, a personal space to make, experiment and think critically about your work in a supportive environment with your peer community.
- Expert teaching: you learn from accomplished and award-winning practising artists and curators who have presented their work nationally and internationally.
- Get creative: our course and campus are powered by Adobe and Apple. We’re Europe’s first Adobe Creative Campus and the only Apple-accredited University, equipping you with the digital tools and resources to hone your creative skills.
Creative UK
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Course details
Course structure
Core modules
Explore how artists create, helping you locate your work within contemporary art. Learn different creative research strategies and experiment with your practice, all while considering the social, environmental, and material impacts of your art. Embrace experimental approaches to push your artistic boundaries as you develop a clear, confident artistic voice through hands-on studio work and writing. Lead your own studio project, applying advanced creative and practical skills to shape your creative journey and make your mark on the art world.
This dynamic module is all about pushing your creative boundaries while developing critical strategies at a postgraduate level. You deep dive into contemporary art themes and theory, clarifying the motivation and ambition behind your work. You regularly showcase your work for peer reviews, group critiques, and receive feedback from tutors, visiting artists, and curators. Build essential skills in critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and independent research, key to thriving in the art world.
Unleash your vision as you dive into a major, in-depth, individual study tailored to your discipline and career aspirations. Whether you're interested in commercial, industrial, creative, or research fields, this project is your canvas.
Take full ownership of your project, from idea to execution. Create artefacts, exhibitions, publications, campaigns, and digital works either from scratch or significantly developing your own previous work.
Integrate all your learning into a substantial body of work that showcases your vision as a creative practitioner. This is your chance to shine your brightest.
Build a sustainable identity as an artist, explore how your practice can thrive and contribute to fields like research, commerce, education, and more, with a focus on post-university success. Learn to balance artistic growth with ecological awareness. Tailor your skills to meet future goals and create a digital portfolio showcasing your progress. Seek advice and collaborate with university resources and external partners to support your journey. Explore sustainability in art, the climate crisis, and how your practice can impact the world.
Elevate your creative research skills, a cornerstone of all creative disciplines, fuelling both academic and creative work. Learn engaging research practices and critical thinking to tackle real-world issues, policies, and audiences. Join a vibrant postgraduate community, exchanging ideas and perspectives across various creative fields. Benefit from lectures and online tutors delivering key knowledge on current debates, issues, and research approaches in the arts and creative industries. Participate in seminars and studio sessions for active debate and practical application of research.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
At MA level it is vital that you take an active role in structuring your own learning, and engage with the relevant methods and underpinning theories of your discipline. The use of a variety of methods, including tutorials, seminars and workshops, enables key principles to be applied to the day-to-day interaction between participants - benefiting tutors and students alike. Individual support, provided by a personal tutor, is an integral feature of the learning and teaching strategy.
An intrinsic aspect of your main study area and its supporting subjects is research. You need to find and make sense of a wide variety of information from books, newspapers, journals, magazines, websites, archives and many other sources. Seminars enable structured discussion and analysis to take place between groups of students and a tutor. They are organised to be interactive and to facilitate the free exchange of ideas through which you learn the process of argument and reason. At postgraduate level it is likely that you will organise and hold some of your own seminar sessions, not necessarily with staff present or playing the lead role.
Practical workshops are used to introduce specific skills, followed by independent learning, project work, tutorials and critiques. Critical reflection is key to all successful origination and is therefore essential to the creative process. You are expected to test and assess your work against criteria which you develop in the light of your research.
How you are assessed
Various assessment methods are used throughout all of the modules and are specified in the module handbooks. These are primarily what we call in-course assessments, where you submit work during the delivery of the module, rather than sit timed examinations at the end. Arts modules are generally project based and primarily assessed through appraisal of a portfolio of work, often accompanied by a verbal presentation. Creative work is largely developmental and you are assessed on the process by which you achieve your solutions as well as the result, so it is essential that you provide clear evidence of your development work.
Entry requirements
Applicants should normally have a good undergraduate degree in an arts discipline, relevant experience or equivalent qualifications. Applicants may be interviewed.
You are expected to be a confident and independent learner with a good understanding of the design process, idea development and critical thinking. You are asked to present a portfolio of work or a completed project showing the development of your work from behind the scenes, or an ongoing project showing the progression and direction of your work.
For general information please see our overview of entry requirements
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country
Employability
Career opportunities
Graduates typically pursue careers as self-employed artists and creative practitioners within the cultural sector. Some find employment in arts and cultural management or choose a career in teaching. Further study at doctoral level is also an option.
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
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Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.
MA Fine Art 
MA Fine Art
MA Fine Art
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