Fine Art with Diploma in Creative Professional Development

Fine art is the practice of making work that thinks, asks questions and communicates in ways that language alone cannot achieve. It encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, installation, performance, video, photography and the full range of media through which artists explore ideas and experiences. At Norwich University of the Arts, fine art is taken seriously as an intellectual and professional practice, and this five-year full-time programme includes a Diploma in Creative Professional Development, giving you an unusually thorough preparation for life as a practising artist.

Across five years of full-time study, you will develop your artistic practice through sustained making, critical reflection and engagement with the history and theory of art and contemporary culture. You will work independently and in dialogue with tutors and peers, building a body of work that reflects your developing concerns and capabilities. The Diploma in Creative Professional Development addresses the practical and professional dimensions of an artistic career, including studio management, grant applications, working with galleries and curators, public engagement and the economics of artistic practice.

You will also study critical and contextual studies, placing your work in relation to the wider history and theory of art.

Graduates from fine art pursue careers as practising artists, working across commercial and non-commercial contexts, and in arts education, gallery and museum work, arts administration and a wide range of creative industries. The professional development diploma gives graduates from this programme a stronger grounding in the practicalities of sustaining an artistic career than most fine art degrees provide. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study, which deepens artistic practice and opens routes into higher education teaching and more specialised research.