Careers
Over the course of a Fine Art degree you develop a good range of subject specific and technical skills as well as transferable skills such as imagination and creativity; critical awareness of self and external factors; interpersonal and social skills; resourcefulness; creative problem-solving, divergent thinking; decision making; oral and written communication skills; visual presentation; information and research skills; self-motivation and management; organisation and planning; and IT skills, particularly using creative software.
Employability
Many employers of graduates seek to recruit people who are lateral thinkers and creative problem-solvers. These qualities are highly developed in Fine Art graduates and makes them very sought after, particularly in the expanding UK creative industries sector. This sector relies on people who can think differently, formulate questions and solve problems. Increasingly, artists and designers are finding work in areas unrelated to the art and design world. Students are using their degree as a general qualification, gaining entry to the graduate professions (finance, marketing, journalism, publishing, management), where employers recognise the range of transferable skills and high level of self-motivation that students develop in a degree such as ours.
Further Study
Many of our graduates continue their education gaining places on postgraduate Masters courses at the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths' and the Slade School of Art, New Orleans USA etc. Others continue as independent practicing artists, some remaining in the North East taking up opportunities in our thriving visual arts region. Our graduates also go on to pursue visual arts-related postgraduate study in areas such as Digital Media, three dimensional design and theatre design. Some graduates continue on to PhD research. A number of related careers are taken up by our graduates: running art galleries; as arts advisers to local councils; as visual arts officers for arts associations; and as teachers and arts specialists in the community. Some graduates are entrepreneurs and establish their own small businesses or organisations.
Find out more
You can look at information about what our graduates go on to do, or read profiles of our graduates Natalie Levi and Tom Whittle.