Curious about studying Fine Art - BA (Hons)at Teesside University? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Teesside University Middlesbrough
Full Time
Sep 2026
3 Year
Our fine art course is student-centred and practice-based. You learn by working on projects in the studio alongside your peers and staff. Our experienced team of artists and academics coach you to find and grow your creative voice, building on your distinct skills and motivations, and guiding you to experiment with new formats and media to develop your ideas.You collaborate with your peers to gain new perspectives, developing your voice and practice. Grow your resilience by producing a creative drawing and writing journal, capturing your challenges, milestones and reflections to see patterns in your thinking and linking reoccurring ideas. Alongside this, you learn how to thrive in the creative industries, from testing ideas and creative directions to understanding pitching etiquette and developing large-scale projects.Our course is supported by our very own international contemporary art gallery MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), a Plus Tate Museum and gallery with a permanent art collection. The gallery supports the bridge between being a student and becoming a professional artist. Through experiencing the behind-the-scenes working of a museum, you can better understand the work of artists, producers, curators, museum education officers and marketing teams. These interactions help you take the next steps in your career. You have the opportunity to put these skills into action through staging exhibitions of your work with partner galleries, and events in Teesside and beyond.Length: 3 years (or 4 with a work placement)
You are introduced to curatorial practice and approaches to forming curatorial displays. Through sessions in the MIMA classroom, you explore methods of curatorial research, considering different styles of producing an exhibition format. You reflect on exhibition histories, inclusive of multiple voices, and develop knowledge of contemporary curatorial practices as well as artist-led curation. You work with the MIMA programme team through exhibition tours and conversations about gallery hangs and interpretation approaches.
You undertake a self-authored project and develop a body of work that begins to establish your studio practice. You are encouraged to explore different making processes, looking towards identifying particular areas of focus. By thoroughly researching a variety of artists and thinkers you begin to identify ideas and concerns that may underpin your practice and consider the context within which this begins to operate.
You explore and expand your approaches to visual investigation and representation through drawing, image and printmaking. You create visual language through observation, response, emotive expression and visual enquiry, experimenting with ideas generation and establishing new ways of looking and thinking.
You are introduced to key art, design, architectural and cultural histories that are central to studying a creative subject. You explore a range of contexts and influences including art historical, ecological, critical theory, industrial, technological change, social and political movements, examining the changing face of art and design and informing your future research.
You combine theory and practice to examine the challenges facing contemporary societies, and undertake small-scale projects that explore social, political and ecological changes around us. You develop the aims and forms in negotiation with module tutors. The outcome could be a collaborative project that explores the process of making work in a wider context such as: shopping centres, schools, outdoor parks, and other social settings.
You develop your understanding of building a career in the creative industries through key skills in creative leadership, collaborative entrepreneurship and sustainability. You start with a theoretical introduction to these concepts and then work collaboratively on a group project to establish a creative business. You present your project and submit an individual reflective portfolio on your research and project experiences.
You broaden your knowledge of art making processes and develop a self-initiated project that investigates ways to form a distinct artistic voice. You are encouraged to experiment and explore art making as a process of enquiry alongside the production of objects, while discussions and group critiques develop your critical thinking skills.
You investigate a range of contemporary social, environmental, technological and ethical issues that inform all types of art and design practice. You broaden your awareness of using creativity as a form of contemporary social discussion ? exploring issues through the development, production and presentation of potential future scenarios.
You are introduced to a range of materials and skills workshops where you explore techniques and strategies to art making and developing a studio practice. Assignment briefs encourage you to explore different ideas and perspectives, sometimes using specialist equipment.
You focus on studio making through a deeper investigation into contemporary art practices. You begin to probe why certain decisions are made and how to contextualise your own artwork while examining contemporary practices. Realisation of an independent artistic agency and a deeper knowledge of art practice is demonstrated through a new body of work. The body of work demonstrates an expertise in making and resolving artworks to a more finished state.
You are introduced to the opportunities available in the creative industries sector, how to start a career path and vital employability skills including networking and digital presence. You learn about the structure of the sector and how it operates locally, nationally and globally, debating the role of policy and the importance of sustainability.
Using the MIMA collection, you question the role of collecting and responding to historical narratives of artmaking. Through conversations with the MIMA curatorial team and sessions in the MIMA classroom, you examine ideas of display, mediation and presentation. You question the ways in which narrative, interpretation and experiences beyond the gallery can help the curatorial experience and consider the categorisation of objects both materially and contextually.
You have the option to spend one year in industry learning and developing your skills. We encourage and support you with applying for a placement, job hunting and networking. You gain experience favoured by graduate recruiters and develop your technical skillset. You also obtain the transferable skills required in any professional environment, including communication, negotiation, teamwork, leadership, organisation, confidence, self-reliance, problem-solving, being able to work under pressure, and commercial awareness.
You examine approaches to written and visual communication that present key ideas and concepts underpinning a practice-based research project. You establish and investigate a research question through relevant research methods ? the outcome is a critical text and small artifact, to demonstrate appropriate skills in academic and reflective writing as well as practice-based research methods. The essay and artifact, not limited to any specific medium or research area, must demonstrate a progression in focus and explore relevant artists and ideas to current debates in contemporary art theory and practice. The written element must also consider the placement and curatorial context of the artifact.
You build upon and consolidate your practice through the development and management of a project. You test out ideas to help determine the trajectory of your future practice in preparation towards the final major project.
This module is the culmination of all your previous learning, bringing a body of work to a point of professional resolution to showcase to a public audience through the degree show. This is achieved through the creation of a body of work that draws together the practical and theoretical concerns that underpin an advanced understanding of your studio practice and explores innovative and appropriate ways in which this new work is presented and engages with a wider audience.
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