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

This was a talk I listened to on the UWE Offer Holder day over 2 years ago!. It was a while ago now. But UWE did seem keen to forge links between their Art depts and others.
DS is now entering his final year. He has secured a graduate job at a major supermarket in their 'Customer' strand..he did a 10 week internship with them at their HO this summer (one of 70) and there were very few art students. Many of the leadership he came into contact with, both in the supermarket and in external agencies were super impressed with how his mind works creatively. His Fine Art pathway has been a super strength to him when applying for grad jobs and internships. The issue is getting through the AI part of the process. Once in front of humans he performs well. A lot of that is to do with group crits and tutor sessions, which force the students to become articulate at expressing their considered thoughts in a way that supports and yet challenges others. Plus the other skills of research for his practice, a lot of reflection and thinking about how art fits into the world, working independently, team skills, leadshersip skills, as well as practically making art.

Oh and he never 'apologises' for 'only' doing Fine Art. He owns it and is proud of it. Which comes over.

Fantastic! - Thanks for replying as I realised this was a bit of a zombie thread, but still relevant I think ;-)

The thread is very much still active! Great people on here with DC on all sorts of different pathways.

I do think you can generally tell when someone’s had an art school education and it’s mostly about resourcefulness, proven solving and a willingness to get stuck in and make/fix things.

This is interesting and describes both of my DD, one on an arts related course currently and one doing a level art.

Yes, an active thread, it just sometimes goes quiet for a while! Lovely to hear everyone's news. DD still looking for a part-time job while also working on her art projects/portfolio.

OK here's a question: what should I think of this?

DS started his Fine Art course today and he is the only boy in the course of 40ish students!. He has also discovered that there are only two other boys in the entire building (2 other courses and a short walk from the main art and design campus). What to think? hard to know really. For context he's also the only straight guy in the building, he has a girlfriend at another uni and is quite a homebody, has lots of gay friends and a gay sibling. I'm worried he might struggle, I mean he might love it, but I think he's quite shocked....

My DS is at heterosexual boy and is very much in the minority on his course. Not as extreme as this but he definitely feels it..
He is into a sport and has friends there to redress the balance. He does find the course incredibly woke as well and has to (in his words) work very hard to always think how he comes over and the words he uses. Although this isnt peculiar to art courses. Not that he has any extreme views at all, but he is conscious of his difference. It believes it has given him a massive insight into being a minority (altho without the baked in inequalities etc).
On the other hand it makes him stand out. Which he certainly wouldn't in many otber courses.
Not sure what I am trying to say really. Other than I recognise what you are saying.

I think Fine Art has become ridiculously female gendered and my guess is it's from school.i did a talk to A Level Art and Design students a while ago and they were were all female.

When I did it in the nineties it was very balanced.

My group was always predominantly female when I taught on Foundation (running a Fine Art pathway) but there were always some male students and the Fine Art BA there always had reasonable mix. I’m not surprised that a cohort would have significantly more women than men but only one male student does surprise me.

Hi all, hope all our creatives are doing well and progressing as planned. Dd is working on her portfolio as we speak, it's quite hard pulling it all together and selecting what's best to put in it. Alongside that, the time has now come round for Portrait Artist of the Year and she'll be painting on tv tomorrow night on Sky Arts!!! It's terrifying! https://www.instagram.com/ruby_mitcham/ If you can manage a follow, that would be amazing.

Well I’m back to say ‘phew’. DS really enjoying Fine Art, there’s another couple of boys in the cohort, and he’s reconciled that he can in fact be friends with the girls - especially as a few of them have boyfriends on other courses at the art school so he’s met them too.

he is enjoying proper talks at seminars about art and contextual studies too, new for him to be in the company or arty people 🤩🕺🏽

Look forward to that 😍

@girlwhowearsglasses That's a great update. Really happy he's settled and enjoying the course content.

So pleased for him

Had to hunt for this thread again.
So DD is year 12 and I am looking for places to start looking at. She is seeing careers next month but I want to start doing research myself.
We are in the NE, DD is also ASD and we don’t think she should go too far. Her Art teacher has mentioned Leeds and somewhere towards Preston (she can’t remember).
But it needs to be somewhere that does a traditional art course, and somewhere very supportive.
I have been pushing (and will continue to) for her to do a foundation year here and delay though.
I feel so unknowledgeable and it’s not an area I know about. Everyone I know who did a fine art degree went to London or Cornwall. Any reccs or good places to look?

We looked a Uni of Newcastle and Uni of Leeds. My DS didnt like them but it is a very personal decision. Lancaster is also your way and is supposed to have good pastoral support. No good if you are a printer though as no print facilities (hence DS discounted it, he hasn't done any print on his degree as it turned out!). Man Met also worth a look but getting further away from you geographically.

There is also Leeds Art Uni, but i have no experience of that.

thank you - I think someone told me that Newcastle was quite ‘modern’, so I had discounted it. She also prints so that’s good to know about Lancaster.
I feel like Manchester is too big for her as well as being a bit far.
Her long term plan is to do MA in Illustration as well, at the moment!

My dd1 is at GSA and loved it. They are encouraged to break out of ‘the familiar’ and try different things. Staff on the whole are very supportive and approachable.

She also looked at Leeds. Course had a heavy academic content, which she would have liked. We visited Leeds Met too, which had fab facilities and I remember being impressed by the Illustration dept there although not so much by the other programmes of study. Loughborough has a good rating but was too sports-heavy as a campus. Manchester was too big. Edinburgh came across as viewing students as ‘lucky to be there’ and were very late in offering places. Newcastle uni also seemed late in offering places. We visited Lancaster but dd1 did not want a campus uni as ‘it felt like boarding school’ (not that she has ever attended one).

DD1 did the Newcastle College foundation course. She loved it and it was absolutely the bridge she needed. Staff were very caring. Lots of local students do this course. I’d absolutely recommend doing this.

I think if she did a foundation it would allow her time to adjust and move slightly further away.
Her dad is from Glasgow and always wanted her to go there, it’s far from us though, and I think I will have to visit a lot!

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by traditional, but Glasgow school of art promotes a lot of conceptual art and teaches how to think rather than art skills. Have a look at the online degree shows of different unis and see what resonates. At GSA, there are no life drawing classes for example as part of the curriculum. It also doesn't open the studios for fine art students at the weekends. We've been to quite a few open days and this is the only uni we've found that doesn't have the studio facilities available on Saturdays and Sundays. Bizarre, but I imagine it's cost-cutting. It wouldn't be my instinctive first choice on the pastoral side either.

Conceptual would be the issue, her brain doesn’t work that that.

Many Fine Art courses are 'conceptual'. The degree pushes students' practice in new directions and challenges them to do so.
In DS experience its the thought and research behind the work that is most important, as well as being able to critically asess his own and others' work. The actual outcome/ piece of work is important, but by no means the be all and end all. In fact just producing beautiful pictures wouldnt get you very far on DS course. DS practice is unrecognisable from his A level.
Doing well in a Fine Art course is rarely about learning to paint or draw (although ypu do need to be able to draw!). Its not classical art training, which doesnt really exist in this country, that I can see. DS has learnt a lot of practical and software skills, (welding, woodwork, plaster, plastics, graphic design software, digital media and manipulation, electronics, printing of all descriptions etc). But has never once painted!!
By contrast the illustration degree is more prescriptive. As is the Graphic Design degree. Ie illustrate this narrative, design to this brief.
A lot of painters and printers are actually on the illustration course. And do well.
It may be worth exploring what she actually wants to do. A foundation would really help here.