Fine art

If you're doing an undergraduate fine art course at uni
What uni do you go to?
Why did you choose this one to do fine art?
I'm looking mainly at The Slade, St. Martins, Chelsea, Camberwell, Goldsmiths & maybe Lancaster, but I'm open to hearing about other ones
Help me choose, tell me about your uni and your course

Reply 1

RX-94-Harley

I'm on the first year of the Fine Art degree at the University for the Creative Arts, at their Farnham campus.The course is taught in both Farnham and Canterbury, but I chose the Farnham campus.

I chose this university for a number of reasons, the main ones being that there's a huge range of facilities, some of which many other universities either don't have or don't have as much of, I'm given almost free reign to use these facilities to use as and when I need to so long as I've done a necessary induction onto them, the course itself is very broad and open for me to pursue art in any direction I want, and to change what I do and how I work at any time, thus allowing me to use whatever creative process I want and in any way I want, and the course is taught in a very modern way, it's more about discovering new ways of doing things and developing your own style of practice rather rather than trying to get everyone to be the next Da Vinci or Van Gogh.

Also the course is very practical. There are no exams. There is a small amount of written work that has to be done and a couple of theory projects, but this is mainly stuff to do with research and developing ideas, which is highly useful. But the course is almost entirely practical and all about getting to work, honing your skills, experimenting and making things. The little amount of written work is just writing about what you're doing, why you're doing it and what you're looking at for ideas. This was also another major reason why I chose the course.

We have a wide variety of different kinds of artists on the course with a wide range of skills and experience, many using types of art you'd expect on a course like this and some you wouldn't initially think of.

The uni is a short train ride to London and we're expected as part of the course to exhibit our work in London at certain points of the course. We're also occasionally sent to do some work in London too.

It's a fairly small university in a small town though, which puts a lot of people off. People want to go to big universities in busy cities with an active nightlife. If you're one of these people it's not the uni for you. Then again, we're right next to Guildford, which is home to the university of Surrey and is a typical uni town, with lots more to do and much more of a busier night life, and people go there all the time for this sort of stuff. If you're someone who doesn't mind being in a small uni where most people end up knowing each other and things are quieter, then it might appeal more to you.

Other information:

There's a very large number of international students from all over the world. I like this as I can learn all kinds of new things, both about art and about the world in general, from these people. Also, in the future these people will be part of my list of contacts, it's useful to have a wide range of contacts as an artist

The uni is majority female. I don't know the exact numbers but it's seemingly a very large majority. It doesn't really affect anything here at all as far as I can tell but to some people it's important to know these things, for various reasons.

It's a specialist art uni. Everyone here is an artist, whether they be illustrators, graphic designers, fine artists, film makers, photographers, games artists, or whatever else, we're all artists. The university only teaches arts.

Fine Art is also taught at the Canterbury campus, which is a bigger place with more to do and a livelier night life, so that might be a better alternative for some people.

It's in Surrey, in the south of England, and so is in a place that is very expensive to live in. It's a nice place to live in but the cost of living is high. Not as high as London but still quite expensive.

Like all universities, it does have it's positives and negatives, but then most of those are dependant on your own views or needs, some of the things I don't like are things other people don't mind or like.

Getting onto the course is almost entirely based on the interview and your portfolio. But it is not a formal interview, it's more of a talk about your work, your goals, what kind of artist you are, your interests, that sort of thing. If you can show them that you are a creative person who is open to change and exploring new ideas and improving your own practice, you stand a good chance of getting onto the course.

Overall I'd say if you are looking at Camberwell, you may like this uni. I didn't look at the others and have no idea what they are like but I personally loved Camberwell (looking there was what started off my decision to choose Fine Art and what kind of universities to go to) and wanted to go there, but the location wasn't the best for me, but then I found the UCA which is similar, and I liked it here so chose to study here.

I hope this helps, I'll happy to answer any questions you have, not just about my uni or course but also other things to do with degrees, unis, applying, interviews and other stuff. Or if there's more information I haven't included here that you want to know I'll be glad to tell you more.