Art and Design at university; for past, present, and future students and parents

[PhotoDad]

I've been on a wonderful thread about applications for art/design applications for the coming academic year, and I thought it might be useful to have a more general place for people at different stages of the process to share advice and hints. The normal MN advice about universities is often not applicable to these subjects!

I'll keep this short because I personally don't like huge posts that appear at the top of each page, but I'll add some starting thoughts below. I know that there's a huge range of experience here and a lot of support, so please do ask questions, or share triumphs and disasters.

The original thread is here:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

@FriendlyLaundryMonster Scottish Art school might work? Dundee has so much lovely countryside within easy reach. Aberdeen too though a long way for many!

Also maybe some smaller unis....? Ones in Wales perhaps? Or small cities like Worcester ( easy access to Malvern Hills and countryside plus lovely river running through)...?

Just some thoughts. I have some experience with all these places without being too identifying!

@FriendlyLaundryMonster - congrats to you DD - that is an amazing offer for a talented young artist !

@ShowerEasy - one thing to consider is whether 4 a levels including art may be too much. Art is so incredibly time consuming. Your DD may be able to cope but worth asking about and considering. Also, in Y13 whether applying for foundation or art school involves putting together a portfolio for each course which is additional work and time consuming in the run up to mocks and/or exams.

In terms of London if she considers foundation courses first (which are free tuition if under 19) then UAL in London and Kingston if you are close enough and a number of local further education colleges (My DS doing UAL foundation at our local college so he lives at home this year.) Morley worth looking at. You can do foundation at a number of universities and art schools around the country but if living away from home the tuition will be free but I don't think you can get a maintenance loan. Foundation applications are direct to the institution and not through UCAS.

I don't know about fine art but for fashion which is DS's pathway he required foundation for some of the uni courses he wanted to apply to.

Some Fine Art degrees want Foundation but more importantly even if it’s not a requirement it’s a transformative year. And good call with Kingston as a suggestion. It’s competitive but a good size, I think (big enough to get a good variety of tutors but small enough for students not to get overwhelmed).

Well done to mini @FriendlyLaundryMonster amazing!
@ShowerEasy my DS is year 1 in a Fine Art degree at UWE Bristol. He did an FAD at Leicester DMU. Neither could be described as rural! So can't really help you there!
But I would echo what others have said about not defining their practice so early... and ruling out 'conceptual' art etc.
An FAD can really open their eyes to the possibilities out there, esp if they go to a provider with good facilities. They are encouraged to try everything (well DS was at DMU) and it's transformed DS practice from meticulous relief print maker to pretty conceptual stuff! But similarly some people go to FAD and carry on pretty much as before!
A lot of unis are tying their FADs into their degree courses now and offering 4 years only. So FE colleges are also worth a look.
It is a lot of work applying as a precious poster said.

I think when people refer to conceptual art now it just means work based on ideas (as a movement conceptual art was really 60s to mid 70s and it’s fine not to like it just as it’s fine not to like work from any other art movement) and being encouraged to think through what really interests you and how you can use that as a basis for making art isn’t a bad thing.

In terms of London if she considers foundation courses first (which are free tuition if under 19) then UAL in London and Kingston if you are close enough and a number of local further education colleges (My DS doing UAL foundation at our local college so he lives at home this year.) Morley worth looking at.

A art foundation is a great thing in my opinion. Away from UAL and Kingston which are very competitive, the Working Men's College in Camden offers a standalone art foundation diploma qualification (the same course curriculum as UAL), as does City & Islington College.

Ravensbourne Uni (North Greenwich) does one too, but it's quite tailored towards media and / or fashion so didn't feel right for us.

All of the above offer the diploma free of tuition fees to Year 14 students (ie the year after they leave school). Not sure about Morley College - I think that is fee-paying -
can anyone advise??

Some London universities have an optional foundation year as part of the four year course, but it's not a separate qualification to the degree and fees will likely to payable.

I don’t think Morley is fee paying.

City and guilds art school is fee paying for foundation

I can confirm Morley is not fee paying. My DD doing her final project now. Best thing about Morley is the small size and she has found friends she's closer to than any other time at school! Plus the month in Portugal was a great experience 🇵🇹😄!

Has anyone's dc done Fine Art at Leeds University (not Leeds Art uni)? Dd is interested in theory as well as practice. We went the open days last year and it appeared to fit her interests but wondering what undergraduate experience is like on the ground?

I stopped teaching (on Foundation) 5 years ago but had a few students go to Leeds and thrive. All Fine Art degrees should have a decent amount of theory but I think the Leeds one has more art historical content. (I think the structure may have changed since I last looked at it in detail though; my knowledge of courses is definitely getting dated.)

I think one thing for applicants to think about is whether they want to be at a multi-disciplinary university or a specialist art university.

What are the respective advantages/disadvantaged of being at a specialist Arts uni or multi-disciplinary one?

Good question! Others will have different views, but this is what DD and I thought up;

Arts Uni. Bigger artistic community, possibly better art facilities, more value placed by the uni on creative courses, possibly likely to attract more specialised tutors/lecturers.

General Uni. Normally larger, so more clubs/societies/general campus facilities. Wider range of students attending.

In the end she compromised, and found a place where there was an art school with its own identity and building within in a larger uni. Quite a few of the "new" universities absorbed pre-existing art schools at some point, so that's definitely a thing. She is very clear that she goes to Cambridge School of Art, which happens to be part of Anglia Ruskin, rather than the other way around IYSWIM.

Yes, quite a few art schools have retained their identity to a greater or lesser extent while being part of a larger university. Some, but not all, are in separate buildings.

For some students interaction with people in other subject areas can be invaluable but for others being in an environment where everyone is focussed on creative practices is better. There’s no one right answer.

In the case of Fine Art, some of the most competitive courses are within multi-disciplinary universities (Slade/UCL; Goldsmiths; Ruskin/Oxford; Newcastle; Leeds etc).

Some art schools have excellent specialist libraries but being able to access libraries in other subject areas that are relevant to your ideas can be good too and random conversations with friends studying other subjects can spark ideas.

Creative courses needs space and specialist facilities though; they’re expensive courses to run and when universities are looking for things they can cut back on they eye up studio spaces and don’t necessarily understand the importance of them.

It’s also worth thinking about the geography of the university in terms of whether all the facilities you’ll need are close to each other. Popping to the library to do some research is less likely to happen if it’s a bus/train ride, for instance.

Perhaps a basic question here, but really hoping someone can help. I'm looking to recommend a photo sharing site (like Flickr or Vecteezy) to dd, that she can use to download photos and use them to paint from (potentially for commercial use and potentially straight copies). Does anyone have any knowledge/experience/advice? I'm going down a rabbit hole of 'in the public domain' at the moment!

Dd now thrown into a dither as she has been given unconditional offers from the Uni of Leeds (Fine Art) and Glasgow School of Art (painting and Printmaking).

Anyone had their adult children go to either and how did they find it? She goes backwards and forwards between the two and needs to make a decision soon.

Hi all, I'm really hoping someone can help on this thread. Dd has been shortlisted for a significant art award and will have a painting in a traveling exhibition. We've been advised to get nail-to-nail insurance, but are struggling to find this for a school child (age 16). Does anyone have any ideas/experience? So grateful if anyone can point me in the right direction. I feel like we're having to learn everything about the art world from scratch 😅

@FriendlyLaundryMonster doesn't the exhibit organisers arrange insurance? My parents often lent their art out for exhibits and insurance was always covered by the borrowing gallery/museum.
If you are responsible for insuring it, why can't you do it?

@mondaytosunday No, the organiser specifically states that it is the artist’s responsibility to have their own insurance in place. I think I’ll call up some insurers. The web quotes just reject her when I put in her details and I think it’s because of her age, or status as a school pupil. Most of what I’ve found seems to be geared towards insuring lots of work in a studio space. Hmmm. We briefly considered not insuring the painting, but it seems risky as it will visit three venues and it’s a precious piece (at least to us!)

We’re also wondering how to frame it. It’s an oil, but perhaps we should put it behind glass to give it some protection.

A-N (the artists information company) may be able to help. As the name suggests it’s a good source of information for artists. It’s a membership organisation but student membership is pretty cheap (under twenty quid, I think). A-N operates various artists’ insurance schemes through a broker but may be able to point you in the direction of other companies too.

If you can avoid it, I’d avoid putting the painting behind glass. Reflections are really distracting and high quality anti-reflective glass is really expensive. It’s personal choice though and mine is generally to keep things very simple so (unless the frame is part of the work) I haven’t framed anything in a very long time! You may decide a frame will add protection in transit though.

Full disvlosure: I’m not a painter. Also I am aware this post is completely unwanted advice from a stranger in the internet so probably best ignored!

We briefly considered not insuring the painting, but it seems risky as it will visit three venues and it’s a precious piece (at least to us!)

It's a really lovely thing fir your DD to he part of. Really exciting. Congratulations to her.

I'm just wondering though if your thoughts about not insuring are right? Of course it's a very precious piece to you (rightly so) but what financial risk would you be covering? How much is it currently worth? How much did it cost to make?

The organisers are saying insure it yourself so that they don't have to pay out I imagine.

Apologies if I've totally missed the point. Fell free to set me straight. 😁

@appyaug Sorry I totally missed your May post. There are two arty threads running in parallel.

What was the decision? Leeds or Glasgow?

Its estimated value is about £2000. And you’re right, it is very exciting for dd!

In response to @artant the work has to be framed with D rings and will be judged while hung and in frame. I viewed Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of Charles this week and noticed it was behind glass. It was slightly annoying (mainly because there were some smears where the glass had been cleaned), but I can understand the reasoning. I think I’m going to chat to a framer and see what they say. Another thing on the list, find a framer!