Art: Visual Arts and Design

Why Visual Arts and Design?

Visual Arts and Design has three exit awards (BA (Hons) Visual Arts: Image & Design, BA (Hons) Visual Arts: Performance and Events, and BA Visual Arts: Visual Art) and differs from many other undergraduate programmes because, from the outset, students’ options are not limited to one subject area. This means that they have time to consider how best to channel their creativity. They may decide to focus on Drawing, Painting and Printmaking, or they may wish to apply their creative skills and ideas to more design-based activities such as Graphic Communication or Illustration.

There is also the exciting opportunity of Festival and Carnival organisation – designing costumes, props and sets, or being involved in Events Management. As the course progresses there are also opportunities, should students wish, to apply their creativity to wider social contexts such as community arts and educational activities.

The programme actively encourages students from all backgrounds and experience with a passion for Visual Art. For those with little or no formal art training, there is the option of the Bridging Course currently run at the Cube, Folkestone, which if successfully completed allows direct progression onto the BA Visual Arts at University Centre Folkestone.

What will I study?

Year 1 of the programme is aimed at developing the depth and range of students’ visual literacy and their understanding of various techniques and processes. They work in a range of two and three-dimensional media, learning how to express feelings, or convey specific meanings through a wide selection of materials and methods. Students are introduced to key issues in festival and exhibition management and have the opportunity to develop skills in design and planning. They also learn how to use different Apple Mac programmes to process and manipulate photography, film and printmaking.

Year 2 is the year where they start to negotiate their studies according to their strengths and interests. They might choose to specialise in one area, or continue to work across a number of disciplines (i.e. Design and Fine Art). It is in this year that their exit award is decided (see above).

The final year of our degree course has a very different flavour and is almost entirely self-directed (with strong tutorial support) according to students’ interests and specialist direction. By this time, they have a very clear idea of what genuinely interests them as a practising artist, or in the Arts industry. The year culminates in a final major assessment in the form of a public exhibition.

Portfolio

This can comprise of work in any visual medium but should include some drawing. Large scale or three dimensional work can be shown through photographs. The portfolio should provide evidence of:

• An independent and creative mind
• Strong motivation
• Visual curiosity and imagination
• An informed awareness of contemporary art

Students who live overseas and are unable to attend an interview can submit a minimum of 10 well chosen digital images of their work and a brief statement, written in English, on why they wish to study Art which can be submitted along with their application form via the University’s International Office.

Interview

At interview, candidates are expected to present and discuss the contents of their portfolio. The interviewing tutor(s) will be looking for:

• The student’s ability to articulate their views on their own work
• A commitment and enthusiasm for the subject and a potential for sustained creative development
• An ability to form and present opinions on other art works - with an emphasis on any contemporary art that they have looked at

What can I do next?

The programme is specifically designed to produce capable and confident practitioners in the creative industries. All students do the Professional Practice Portfolio modules, which run through all three years and include elements of basic entrepreneurship and business skills, as well as professional presentation skills.

The programme also provides a suitable preparation for progression to higher-level MA/ postgraduate study, A number of students each year go on to undertake a PGCE and have found employment in schools, colleges and universities at all levels. Graduates have gained employment in galleries, arts and museum administration and education and charitable art foundations.

Some graduates set up as professional artists in the various disciplines, exhibiting and selling their work, often alongside other employment in the visual arts or while undertaking a part-time MA.

As undergraduates, students will have acquired a range of important transferable skills that will equip them to enter other types of employment in both the commercial and public sectors where graduate attributes are sought. 

Contacts

For further course information please contact the Programme Director:

Email: katrina.maclean@canterbury.ac.uk

Tel:: 01303 760604 or 01227 786504