Overview
Develop your skills as an artist through studio work and one-to-one tuition on our full-time Fine Art degree at Cambridge School of Art. Choose to study abroad for one semester in the Netherlands, go on field trips and organise art exhibitions. Learn about art theory and techniques, and form an advanced understanding of contemporary fine art practice, whether you want to become an artist, curator, or even an art therapist.
- Join an art course that came 7th in the UK for ‚Satisfaction with Teaching’ The Guardian University Guide 2020.
- Gain the skills and knowledge needed for many different careers in the creative industries
- Study in Cambridge, with its many galleries and exhibition spaces, and just a quick train journey from London
- Show your work to industry professionals at our end-of-course degree show.
- Study abroad for one semester in the Netherlands, and apply for funding to help cover the cost
This course will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to succeed as an artist. Through seminars and written work, you’ll develop an understanding of art theory and technique. You’ll also specialise in a particular area: you might focus on modern media such as photography, digital imaging or video art; or more traditional media like painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking.
Supported by our expert staff, who are all practising artists, you’ll develop your own visual language and exhibit your work at each stage of the course, from Year 1 up to the final degree show. There’s the chance to create installations for the Cambridge Botanical Gardens and to organise solo exhibitions around the city.
As well as your practice, you’ll develop your understanding of debates about the nature of art: how it can be evaluated, what it might represent, and the meanings it might convey. From this you will form an appreciation and enjoyment of fine art that will last a lifetime.
Careers
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it.
Our BA (Hons) Fine Art will prepare you for life as a practising artist. Many of our graduates regularly exhibit in Cambridge and London.
It will also help you develop the skills and knowledge needed for many different careers in the creative industries, such as gallery management/technician work, curation, prop and set making or art direction in film and television, specialist print workshops, and arts marketing or promotion.
Or you might choose to become an art therapist, go into teaching, or continue your studies on our MA Fine Art or MA Printmaking degrees.
Our Fine Art Research Unit (FARU) runs fortnightly lectures which will give you a chance to hear artists talk about their work, and to engage in debates about contemporary art. Recent speakers have included: Katrina Blannin, Alicia Paz, Juan Bolivar, Rebecca Fortnum, Danny Rolph, Claude Temin-Vergez, Hayley Newman, Günter Herbst, David Kefford, Alana Jelinek, Cally Spooner, Bernice Donszelmann, Ella McCartney, Matt Darbyshire, Lilah Fowler, and Phillip Allen.
Find out more about our placements and work experience, or the faculty’s employability support.
Modules & Assessment
Year one, core modules
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Fine Art Practice 1
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Fine Art in Contexts
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Images Today
Year one, optional modules
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Approaches to Drawing
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Experimental Practice
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Anglia Language Programme
Year two, core modules
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Fine Art Practice 2 (core module)
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Debates and Practices
Year two, optional modules
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Installation Practice
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Printmaking: Materials, Processes and Ideas
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Time Based Media
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Business for the Creative Arts
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Identities
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Text and Image
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Site-specific Work
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Printmaking: Photographic Processes
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Contemporary Digital Approaches
Year three, core modules
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Fine Art Practice 3 (core module)
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Major Project
Year three, optional modules
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Research Project
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Working in the Creative Industries
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Research Assignment
Assessment
For a full breakdown of module options and credits, please view the module structure (pdf).
You’ll show your progress in a number of ways. On contextual modules you’ll produce essays or shorter written assignments, while on studio modules you’ll either submit portfolios of artwork, or install exhibitions.
In years 2 and 3 assessment by exhibition will form a significant part of your fine art study, and the degree show will form part of your final Major Project assessment. You’ll receive feedback throughout the year, including mid-year reviews on all the core modules, when you will present ongoing artwork to tutors. You’ll also submit essays or artwork at formal assessment points at the end of semester or end of year.
Where you’ll study
Your department and faculty
At Cambridge School of Art, we combine the traditions of our past with the possibilities afforded by the latest technologies.
Using our expertise and connections in Cambridge and beyond, we nurture creativity through experimentation and risk-taking to empower the makers and creators of the future.
Our academics excel at both practice and theory, making a real impact in their chosen fields, whether they are curating exhibitions, designing book covers or photographing communities in Africa. They are also regularly published in catalogues, books, journals and conference papers, their research classed as being of ‘international standing’, with some elements ‘world-leading’, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework.
