Master of Fine Art (MFA)
2 years full-time.
Details of the AHRC awards and how to apply for them will be published here.
UK/EU Fees for the academic year 2012-13 will be £5,500
International fees will be £14,320
- Overview
- Course Structure
- Study Trips Abroad
- Fine Art - Student Exchanges
- Applications
- Entry Qualifications
- English Language
- Funding including details of AHRC funding for 2012
Overview
The MFA at Newcastle University is a two-year studio-based programme in Fine Art and is designed to enable students to develop careers as professional artists . It is designed for graduates in Fine Art and for those with other backgrounds who wish to establish or extend their position as leading practitioners in the contemporary art world. The programme also offers a grounding for those hoping to progress to PhD degree study.
The course is based in excellent purpose-built studio space and combines intensive personal studio practice with critical scrutiny. You will be taught by a wide range of distinguished and internationally celebrated practicing artists and you will be working in an exciting, well-equipped and expanding practice-led research environment. Whether your practice involves painting, sculpture, digital media, drawing, performance, photography, printmaking, installation or video art, the course at Newcastle enables the student/artist to pursue professionalism and excellence in their practice. We encourage and support the practice and study of art through thoughtful and informed investigation, experimentation and speculation.
You are expected to pursue your practice and research with a high level of independence but are supported in this throughout by a supervisor who regularly meets with you to discuss your work and by a programme of cross-disciplinary seminars, group studio discussions and lectures by distinguished visiting artists. Our weekly Visiting Lecturer programme enables some of the most interesting and original artists, critics, curators, historians and art professionals working today to present and discuss their projects.
You will have 24hr access to your studio and towards the end of June, when the undergraduate students are no longer in the building, the MFA students have access and the use of all the studios in the building in which to work over the summer and to subsequently exhibit.
The aim of the course is to:
• To foster creative imagination, intellectual rigour and innovative thinking through active engagement with practice and relevant artistic and academic debates.
• To provide a supportive and responsive learning environment in which students can acquire such advanced practical and theoretical skills as will enable them to establish themselves as practitioners in fine art or in other careers in the visual arts field, either nationally or internationally.
• To provide a varied learning experience that encourages the development of individual potential and abilities through self-directed and independent practice-led research.
• To provide students with a learning environment where the relationship between theory and practice is constantly interrogated and critiqued.
• To provide a framework within which students can acquire an advanced knowledge of a range of intellectual and practical approaches to their subject such that they are prepared for further academic or practice-led research.
• To improve graduate's knowledge and use of appropriate key skills. These key skills include the ability to manage projects with regard to time and resources, the ability to work as part of a group and independently, the ability to solve problems creatively, the ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
As well as individual tutorials with studio supervisors and visiting artists and critics, subject-specific training is provided through a programme of seminars, student presentations and group critiques, which focus on critically evaluating work, identifying the wider context for their practice and enhancing presentation skills – both verbal and visual. In addition to rigorous training within a specific discipline, the course provides essential skills and knowledge in professional practice and research. And as a contemporary artist working in an increasingly interdisciplinary subject in a large culturally and technologically rich university, we actively encourage our students to attend lectures and seminars across the university and to take advantage of and pursue opportunities for interdisciplinary projects.
Alongside the Slade, the Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art and Reading University, the course at Newcastle University remains one of the few two-year full-time masters courses in Fine Art in the UK.
We normally admit up to 10 students into the course per year giving a cohort of 20 MFA students in all. It is assumed that most students will undertake the full programme, but those students unable to complete it in its entirety, or who wish to only study for one year, may be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma after fulfilling the commitments for Stage/Year 1.
Whilst here in Newcastle students are actively encouraged and helped to engage in collaborative or interdisciplinary projects where appropriate, stage exhibitions of their work in and beyond Newcastle and to pursue external opportunities beneficial to their future professional careers.
Course Structure
The course is based around six modules, with approximately 80% of your time based in the studio pursuing your self-directed creative practice. All the seminars and lectures related to the course take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The first stage of the MFA programme allows you to reassess your previous practice within a supportive environment. Your core studio practice will be augmented by a series of seminars and lectures relating to professional practice, provided a range of staff and visitors who are active professionals in their field – curators, artists, commissioning agencies and independent gallery owners. In addition you will undertake training in research methods alongside masters students from across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
There is specific tutorial support in the first year for the development of the written component of the course. – a dissertation of 7,500-9,000 words. Completed in the early part of the second year, the research and development of your dissertation will be integral to your developing studio practice. It is seen as a unique aspect of the course and aims to both support the development of practice and provide an advanced critical and reflective understanding of the nature of your studio practice. It helps develop the ability to identify, research, evaluate and coherently structure material towards practical and/or intellectual ends with the aim of producing a sustained piece of writing, and can often be used as a springboard for future PhD study.
You will present work in an exhibition in February/March of the first year and again in the Interim show alongside the second year MFA students at the end of August. Your progression during your first year of study is assessed though regular tutorials and the exhibition at the end of the year.
In Year 2 you will complete your dissertation by the end of Semester 1 and you will continue to develop a substantial body of studio work for exhibition and final assessment at the end of the year. The MFA Degree Show is held at the end of August and is staged in the prestigious Hatton Gallery and in the Fine Art studios.
Study Trips Abroad
There are regular study trips abroad, usually one each semester for four to seven days. These are organised by the department and are optional but must be self-funded. Recent trips have been to New York, the Venice Biennale, Madrid, Florence and Berlin.
Students can also apply for funding for individual research trips from the Bartlett Scholarships scheme, a fund of approximately £4,000 a year. Application is through a written submission that is assessed by a panel of Fine Art Tutors.
Fine Art - Student Exchanges
MFA students can take advantage of a period of international study through our exchange scheme which is run in conjunction with several institutions around the world. This usually takes place in Semester 1 of Year 2. Fine Art has established links through the Erasmus scheme and independently with a number of institutions and artists' groups world-wide. Annual student exchanges take place with art schools in Munich, Bremen, Bratislava, Crakow, Ghent, Melbourne and Istanbul. Students have also arranged periods of study themselves in art departments in the USA, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Holland.
Applications
We consider a range of applicants, from those applying directly from undergraduate degree courses, to those who may have pursued several years of professional practice. Applicants are asked to submit appropriate visual documentation of their studio work along with a completed on-line application form. Visual documentation of your studio work (up to 20 images) can be submitted as Jpeg files, which can be attached to the online application, or images can be sent directly to the Head of Postgraduate Studies, either within an email, or sent in the form of slides, CD, or DVD (see Further Information below for contact details). Candidates are required to provide a comprehensive statement about their current studio work and their reasons for wanting to study at postgraduate level, as well as an outline proposal for their planned study at Newcastle. Find out how to apply.
We welcome applications from international students. Applicants not based in the UK are not required to attend an interview and the decision to offer a place will be based solely on the completed application form and the supporting statements, references and visual documentation. Recent overseas students on our postgraduate programmes have come from as far apart as Iceland, Canada, United States, Chile, Portugal, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Colombia South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Japan and Uganda.
Closing Dates for Applications
For all applicants, we would normally expect applications to be submitted to us by May 31st, but late applications to the MFA course will be considered on an individual basis and if places are still available. Please note: For UK and EU applicants who also wish to apply for possible AHRC funding through us, the deadline for applications to the course for 2012 entry was 16th February 2012. For application for AHRC funding for 2013 entry, we expect the deadline to be February 2013.
Entry qualifications
Candidates should normally hold a good undergraduate degree (2:1 Honours or higher) or equivalent. Applicants who hold non-standard qualifications and/or have relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.
English Language
Applicants for whom English is not a first language must provide evidence of a satisfactory command of English, preferably with an IELTS score of 6.5 or greater, TOEFL 575 (paper-based) or 233 (computer-based), or equivalent.
Funding
AHRC studentship awards (PG) for UK and EU students.
If you are a UK or EU student and wish to seek funding for your studies in 2012 and beyond, you are advised to contact us (Richard Talbot) to discuss your application as early as possible. The deadline for applications from UK or EU students who intend to apply to us for AHRC funding will be 16th February 2012. The application form for the AHRC funding must be submitted to us by March 1st 2012. We will accept applications for our courses after this date, but you will not be considerd for funding after this date.
Details of the AHRC awards and how to apply for them will be published here. Please be aware that your application and your accompanying proposal will be what we use to decide whether or not to consider you for funding, so it needs to be well-argued, well-written, and clear with all the sections fully completed.
International Students
Newcastle University offers a large number of partial scholarships to prospective international postgraduate research students. Please click here for more information.
International students may be eligible to apply for funding from their own governments or educational bodies, especially for PhD level research. You are advised to investigate these possibilities with your governmental or educational bodies as early as possible as many sources of funding have application deadlines in advance of those followed in the UK.
Other Opportunities
There are other funding opportunities available to both UK and non-UK citizens. In the first instance, try using the university's funding pages to help you:
- you should also check out the DirectGov pages on finance by clicking here (for students from England)
Tuition Fees
Fees per academic year 2012-13
UK/EU: full time £5,500
International: full time £14,320
Please refer to our Tuition Fees section for information about changes to fees and fee discounts. Comprehensive information about fees and funding is available in the University's Funding & Finance pages.
Enquiries specific to Postgraduate study may be made directly to the Head of Postgraduate Studies, Richard Talbot.
