MA Fine Art*
- Entry year
- 2025/26
- Course code
- E10112
- Application
- University
- Level
- Postgraduate
- School
- School of Arts
- Campus
- City Campus
- Duration
- 12 months full-time
- Delivery
- Full-time; starts September
- Programme leader
- Dr Steven Paige
* subject to final UWE Bristol approval
This course is open for applications.
Page last updated 29 November 2024
Introduction
UWE Bristol’s MA Fine Art is ideally placed if you’re looking to develop your fine art practice at a professional level amongst a diverse and supportive community of creative arts practitioners.
Accreditations and partnerships:
Why study this course?
You will study our innovative curriculum alongside a purposefully small group of peers, uniquely designed to offer critical, collaborative and personal approaches to fine art practice in today’s cultural contexts. There is no emphasis on a particular type of work. You might choose to work in painting, installation, performance, sculpture, moving image or drawing, reflecting contemporary practice and allowing for critical exploration and experimentation.
You will gain knowledge and insights into contemporary arts practice and debates, taught by experts in the field with international profiles. This, and the extensive range of creative resources available across our City Campus, will equip you to work at a professional level, plugging into the contemporary discourse of regional, national, and international arts communities.
Whether you’re a recently qualified arts graduate, or a well-established professional looking to develop yourself academically, this course offers all you need to push your practice to the next level.
Why UWE Bristol?
You’ll be perfectly placed studying in Bristol, a socially and politically progressive city, widely recognised as one of the most creatively influential settings in the UK. Here you’ll discover a range of galleries, artists' groups and studios plus art projects involving students and graduates.
MA Fine Art is based on Bristol's historic harbourside at Arnolfini. Situated above this internationally renowned centre for contemporary art, you will be at the heart of Bristol's creative and cultural community, with access to all that UWE Bristol's City Campus has to offer. Here, you’ll develop your skills and knowledge alongside like-minded creative talent.
Where can it take me?
You will graduate with a globally recognised qualification and have a broad range of options available to you regionally, as well as nationally and internationally. The course offers you the opportunity to develop your personal practice, which can lead to a career as an artist, technician, or in galleries and museums. Our students have also built careers in film, education, or the wider creative industries. You may also wish to consider a PhD pathway within one of our excellent research centres.
Follow UWE MA Fine Art on Instagram.
To see examples of work produced by our recent MA Fine Art graduates, visit our Showcase site.
Watch: Welcome to the School of Arts at UWE Bristol
Structure
Content
The MA Fine Art course gives you the opportunity to develop a range of creative, conceptual, technical and professional skills. You’ll study a curriculum carefully sequenced to deliver a dynamic student journey over three intensive terms.
In the first term, you'll be encouraged to establish a critical disciplinary fluency, effectively positioning your practice within contemporary discourses and developing an individual process of artistic inquiry. At the end of the first term, you'll explore and connect arts research and discourse across a community of postgraduate peers. This will result in the presentation of bold, change-making creative proposals.
In the second term, you’ll have the opportunity to advance your personal fine art practice through professional, creative, and/or material development. Refinement of your skills and understanding will culminate in presentation of a robust body of work and a considered proposal for further inquiry. This leads into the third term, where you'll have the opportunity to realise your ideas within a supportive community of interdisciplinary practice, technical expertise, and academic criticality when completing your final project.
You’ll present your work to the public at our MA Showcase.
Throughout the year, you will develop your understanding of enterprise within the creative industries and develop knowledge of the contemporary character and conventions of the creative economy. You will have the opportunity to refine your professional skills, attributes and identity in preparation to succeed in an uncertain and complex cultural landscape.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.
Learning and Teaching
Our family of MA Fine Art courses work together in an interdisciplinary learning environment. This approach nurtures collaboration and knowledge exchange across different fields of study, allowing students to deepen their expertise within their chosen discipline whilst engaging with broader artistic creative and critical perspectives.
Taught by a team with expertise across a breadth of creative practice, you’ll learn to understand and push the boundaries of discipline through technical and theoretical input. You will study through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, and studio practice, and you’ll also benefit from events with industry experts.
Through a well-established studio culture, this course will ensure your work develops within a lively community of emerging and experienced artists. Your creative and critical skills will develop as you realise a substantial body of work, while studio visits, group critiques, and seminar discussions will inspire ambitious new directions. You will benefit from our interconnected School of Arts, with access to professional contacts, exhibiting opportunities, and an established network of future collaborators.
See our glossary of teaching and learning terms.
Study time
This is a full-time course, which starts in September and runs for three terms over 12 months. Learning and teaching sessions typically take place over three days per week. Outside of your contact hours, you’ll have the opportunity to access the available resources.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a range of methods throughout the year including presentations, portfolio, and practical and written work. You’ll spend your last term working towards your final outcomes for the year, which includes an opportunity to exhibit publicly.
Learn more about our assessments.