MA Professional Art Practitioner

Overview

This course will enable you to take your practice-based skills as a designer and maker to the next level as you establish your career. We will support you in developing your experience, using variety of materials to create high-quality objects that push boundaries, whilst working creatively and ethically.

Our aim is to engage you with key design principles and the working methods necessary to respond to and resolve design problems through processes of research, conceptual thinking, design development and production appropriate to the discipline. This will allow you to develop a holistic understanding with additional insight into historical and contemporary engagement and debate within the Arts.

Our staff are active-makers who exhibit widely, bringing their own experience into teaching to support students as they engage with live commissions and exhibitions.

Our students continue to garner recognition and professional success at national events such as New Designers and have received awards from institutions such as the National Trust, Design Nation, and The Society of Contemporary British Silversmiths.

KEY COURSE FEATURES

• Our teaching aims to engage you in key design principles and the working methods necessary to respond to and resolve design problems through research, conceptual thinking, design development and production appropriate to the discipline.
• You will learn to demonstrate the synthesis between theory and practice in the ability to generate and produce creative ideas, concepts, design sheets, sketchbooks and presentations, individually or as part of a team in response to self-initiated activity or live client briefs.
• Through live projects, commissions and collaborative projects you will develop the enterprise, digital fluency, leadership and team working skills necessary to become a professional maker.
• You will learn through a variety of methods including individual mentoring, group demonstrations, academic and critical writing, lectures, and collaborative opportunities. We encourage students to work across materials to nurture their practice. This exploration will also enable you to be flexible with skills in an ever-changing industry.
• A highlight of our calendar is Ceramic wales, an annual event which takes place on campus and features exhibitions and demonstrations. This feeds into our curriculum, giving you project management experience and networking opportunities to work with professional makers.
• Although it is not essential for students to have access to a workshop/studio outside of the university it is ideal for students to establish this during their first year of professional practise to ensure that they are equipped once they have graduated.

ASSESSMENT & TEACHING

Assessment will be conducted throughout the course and will require evidence of coursework (typically portfolio) including evaluations of the practical work for each module.

CAREER PROSPECTS

Graduates from our programmes gain employment locally, nationally and in some cases, worldwide. Self-employment and freelance employment are a particular strength within the area with a high percentage of our graduates going on to owning their own workshop business supplying galleries and retail outlets. Other careers include teaching, running workshops and gallery curatorship. Students will also achieve PgCert and PgDip exit awards during this course.