Students will be offered a technical training that will allow you to become an arts and media specialist. Challenging and extending the traditions of such disciplines as fine art painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, video and sculpture. The wide range of superbly equipped workshops available to you will also facilitate the kind of experimental combining of materials and processes needed to explore and create hybrid art forms. You will be encouraged to explore art history and the context of your practice, in order to establish a strong personal visual language.

In year one, you will be introduced to a range of fine art concepts, processes and subject matters. In year two, you will make an informed decision about the subject matter, media or combinations of media that you wish to explore in your personal practice and have the opportunity to exhibit your work. In your final year, you will be supported in developing and refining your craft in order to realise your creative aspirations as an independent practitioner.

Our school engages with a wide range of partners working across each creative sub-sector to ensure that teaching and learning are in line with the latest developments in and requirements of industry, including:

Industry Partners
• Jenny Morten, Artist
• Richard Forster, Artist

Guest Speakers
• Claire Davies, Video Artist
• Richard Forster, Artist
• Mark Jackson, Curator
• Nick Kennedy, Painter/Sculptor
• Ian MacDonald, Photographic Artist
• Narbi Price, Painter
• David Rickard, Sculptor
• Matt Roberts, Curator
• Dafna Talmor, Photographic Artist
• Godfrey Worsdale, Curator
• Nathaniel Pitt, Curator
• Jo Hamill, Artist
• Gordon Dalton, Artist
• Mark Houghton, Sculptor
• Lothar Gotz, Artist
• Eric Bainbridge, Artist

Students and graduates have exhibited in various venues, including:
• The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool
• Hartlepool Art Gallery
• Fresh, Thirsk
• The House of Blah Blah, Middlesbrough
• The Python Gallery, Middlesbrough
• Pineapple Black Arts, Middlesbrough
• The Hub, Redcar
• Base Camp, Middlesbrough
• Middlesbrough Art Weekender
• Ferens Art Gallery, Hull

Commissions
• Middlesbrough Tunnel Gallery Commission
• Auxillary Arts Space Development Prize, including studio space and mentoring - 2022

Our course has a track record of developing successful creative practitioners.

Our Alumni include:
• Jane Bizimana, Arts Events Organiser
• Mollie MacSween, Artist
• Alice Hogg, Artist
• Rebecca Hayne, Artist & Curator
• Aran Batey, Curator
• Mary Crick, Artist
• Zoli Fodor Jordon, Artist
• Sophie Heyes, Artist
• Abby Pearce, Art Teacher & Educator
• Sarah Burley, Art Teacher & Educator
• Natasha Pybus, Art Teacher & Educator
• Charlotte Etherington, Art Teachers & Educator
• Anita Sewell, Artist-in-Residence
• Lucy Bain, Artist

Your portfolio is a visual statement it tells us alot about you & your practice. The advice below is not meant to be restrictive but rather offers some simple advice to help you prepare for your portfolio review.

Examples can include:

1. Knowledge of the subject you are applying for

2. Drawing and painting skills
• Observational drawing
• Experimenting with different media
• Design sketches and illustrations
• Paintings using different media
• Photography
• Poster Art
• Comic Art

3. Evidence of a variety of techniques and processes
• Traditional and/or digital

4. Multimedia and/or 3D work
• Sculpture work/models (can be photographed)
• Animations or moving image

5. Online presence (design and visual arts related) e.g. Instagram, Behance, Facebook, Flickr, Vimeo, WordPress etc.

6. Sketchbooks
• Evidence your ideas generation, development and research
• References to artists and designers that have inspired/influenced your work
• You may have references to contemporary and historical practices

7. Experimental approaches to your projects

8. Examples of written work

Please ensure any work you bring is easily viewable, especially digital files. Feel free to bring work on your own tablet or laptop. We also want to know about you, so we’ll ask you about what artists, films, games or stories inspire you and your work.

Authenticity of Submitted Work
All work submitted in support of an application (including written work, portfolios, proposals or additional evidence requested by the School) must be the applicant’s own original work.

The School reserves the right to request verification of authorship. Where submitted work is found to be misrepresented, misleading or not the applicant’s own, the application or offer may be withdrawn in accordance with our Admissions policy.

Where applicants have used digital or AI-assisted tools as part of their creative process, this should be clearly declared.

Fine Art Foundation and Orientation
In your first year (Level 4), you will be introduced to the core skills, and techniques that form the foundation of fine art practice. You’ll explore a variety of mediums and approaches to help you understand the wide possibilities within the discipline. This year focuses on developing your creative conceptual understanding of the technical training that will allow you to become an arts and media specialist.

• 2D Practices including Painting, Drawing and Printmaking
• 3D Practices including Assemblage, Casting, Installation and Site Specific Art
• Digital Practices including Photography, Scanning, Editing and Video Production
• The content, form and context of your work in relation to the work of other Fine Art practitioners through debate and analysis
• Narrative
• Creative Thinking

Development and Exploration
Your second year (Level 5) builds on this foundation, allowing you to develop more focused advanced practice. You will begin to define your personal direction through your body of work and subject matter, in which you will explore opportunity to exhibit your work, while building a professional portfolio that reflects your developing specialism.
• Your individual personal practice
• Confidence in directing your own work and understanding its context
• Your Professional practice through live assignments, work experience and collaboration

Consolidation and Expertise
In your final year (Level 6), you will consolidate your skills, experience and creative identity as a fine artist. Working on a self-initiated body of work, you will refine your practice and explore your future professional direction. This year provides the opportunity to realise your creative aspirations and independent practitioner and prepare for a successful transition into professional practice or further study.

• A honed exhibition of personal practice
• Work for competitions and commissions
• Dissertation which will enrich and inform your practice
• A plan for life beyond your degree

Optional Master of Arts.

Develop your creativity even further with a postgraduate study year – https://northernart.ac.uk/masters-degrees/