Masters Degrees in Printmaking, United Kingdom

Transform your creative practice by engaging with print media on our Master’s course at Cambridge School of Art. Using the latest techniques, you'll work on your own projects in our world-class facilities, and get invaluable experience of exhibiting, curating and collaborating.

Overview

Discover the vital contribution that printmaking has made to the language of contemporary art practice, and how recent technological advances have broadened its definition.

Much of your time will be spent independently researching and undertaking your own practice-based projects. You’ll receive technical inductions for the use of both traditional and emerging processes (including relief printing and intaglio, screen print, lithography, photo-based and digital media) and be free to experiment with, and combine, them in your creative work.

Throughout the course you’ll have support from experienced print and fine art practitioners, and benefit from working in a supportive and critically informed art school. Our connection with the MA Printmaking course at Camberwell College of Art creates opportunities for exchange crits and gives you the chance to build networks with fellow artists. And you'll get a window onto the professional art world through our visiting lecturers, field trips and links to galleries.

Our series of workshops, tutorials, seminars, critiques, presentations and lectures, will allow you to develop research skills that you’ll use on this course and in your future career. In addition, you’ll gain experience of other areas of professional practice including curating and critical writing.

Our links with local printmaking and art organisations, such as Cambridge Original Printmakers, the Curwen Print Study Centre, Aid & Abet, Changing Spaces, Wysing Arts Centre and Cambridge Artworks, will give you the chance to take part in portfolio reviews, live projects and professional exhibitions.

Teaching times: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10am-5pm (full-time); Wednesdays from 10am-5pm in Year 1, Tuesdays from 10am-5pm in Year 2 (part-time).

Careers

As well as preparing you for a successful career in creative practice, our course will equip you for many other roles. Our past students enjoy careers in further and higher education, professional print workshops, museum and gallery management, public arts projects, artist in residence schemes and fellowship opportunities, in the UK and overseas.

Or you might decide to continue on to a research degree, like our PhD Fine Art.

You’ll have access to events such as Creative Front Futures, which will give you a taste of different creative industries, and be able to take part in Fine Art Professional Practice and networking initiatives for our students and alumni.

Fortnightly lectures run by our Fine Art Research Unit (FARU) will give you a chance to hear artists and staff talk about their work, and engage in debates about art practice. Our recent speakers have included Phillip Allen, Juan Bolivar, Rebecca Fortnum, Danny Rolph, Hayley Newman, Günter Herbst, David Kefford, Cally Spooner, Tim Ellis, Andrew Grassie, Lilah Fowler, Jemima Brown, Caroline Wright and Matthew Derbyshire.

Visiting printmaking professionals have included Katherine Jones, Stephen Chambers, Sean Rorke, Rebecca Salter, Penny Brewill, Mike Taylor, Kate Palmer, Jo Love and Jane Dixon, Leo Brook and Amanda Couch.

Core modules

Process and Practice as Research
Printmaking: Research and Context
Acts and Discourses
Master's Dissertation Art and Design
Master's Project: Art and Design

Assessment

On our core modules you’ll demonstrate your progress through your visual research outcomes and supporting evaluative statements, except for the Master’s Dissertation, for which you’ll submit a 6,000-word contextual essay.

Specialist facilities

You’ll work in our fully equipped print studios, with industry-standard facilities including intaglio, screen, relief, litho and photo print processes. You’ll also have access to our 3D workshops, laser cutting facilities, large format digital printer, photography studios and dark rooms, and computer suites for video production and digital imaging.

Studio teaching takes places in our print studio and MA Fine Art studios, which also act as lively hubs for our full- and part-time students in printmaking and fine art.

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Introduction

MA Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts encourages students to reflect on printmaking in its many contexts. The international success of our MA in Printmaking is due to how we explore this medium in its own right, as well as its relationship to wider contemporary practices. We respond to current debates about the role of skill and authorship in the creation of artworks, as well as the notion of the unique work of art.

Content

What students can expect from the course:

- To take an innovative approach, using all forms of autographic printmaking; these include intaglio, lithographic, relief print, screen-printing, letterpress and computer generated processes

- To investigate and reconsider assumptions underlying the applications of autographic processes and new technologies

- Their programmes of study to place the practice of printmaking in both a contemporary critical context as well as a wider, historical perspective

- To research the content, materials and technical skills appropriate to their projects, and produce written as well as practical work exploring their chosen subject area and relationship to contemporary practice

- Visits to important print collections and participate in symposiums and talks with curators and international artist.

- To develop a project from proposal to final exhibition

Structure

Unit One – Research, Development and Practice

Students will explore, experiment and research to further develop their Project Proposals. This unit introduces students to pathway specific issues and topics, research methodologies and techniques. It aims to orientate students and their practice within the course, and develop their contextual, critical and research skills at the onset of their MA learning.

Unit Two – Reflection and Presentation

Resolution and presentation of students' work according to their Project Proposal. A symposium will provide the opportunity to present their research and provide further peer feedback. Students' practice at this stage should synthesise their practical, conceptual and professional abilities and they will be expected to consider their future practice, audience and context of their work in contemporary practice.

The intention and context of students' work will inform their decisions they will take regarding a final exhibition. Students' will also be expected to work collaboratively with their peers to actively plan, organise and install an exhibition as part of their continued Personal and Professional Development.

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With state-of-the-art facilities and expert guidance from some of the UK's leading academics and technical specialists, our course will enable you to explore both experimental and traditional approaches to Printmaking. Using innovative resources for etching, intaglio, lino, letterpress, stone lithography, screenprint, ceramic and 3D printing, you will develop your own unique approach to Printmaking through workshop enquiry, research and critical understanding of your practice.

Why study MA Printmaking at Middlesex?

At Middlesex we take a highly practical approach to Printmaking that enables you to explore your interests and enhance your skills through experimentation, research and critical analysis. Flexibly designed to meet the ambitions of students from a wide range of creative backgrounds, including illustration, fine art, and design, our course will equip you with the advanced skills, contemporary knowledge and industry insights you need to develop your own practice to a professional standard.

Based in our £80 million Art and Design School and taught by a diverse range of Printmaking academics and industry professionals, our course features world-class facilities and specialist workshops fitted with both new and traditional equipment. With opportunities to build industry contacts and exhibit your work off-site, you'll also gain the employability skills, exposure and experiences you need to navigate a successful career path in today's competitive creative industries.

Course highlights:

- Our facilities are among the best in the UK with etching, intaglio, lino, letterpress, stone lithography, screenprinting, ceramic decal and glaze transfers available in a dedicated print workshop with specialist technical support
- Access to innovative software and equipment across the School of Art and Design including a 3D printer, large format digital printer, dark rooms, photographic studios, laser cutters and metalwork workshops
- An exhibition of your work in central London to create networking opportunities and build industry contacts in a professional environment
- Direct access to London's art world with valuable industry links to a range of galleries, printmakers, businesses, libraries and collections that will enhance your research and inform your practice
- Access to networking opportunities, world-leading research and expertise through the Art & Design Research Institute (ADRI) on campus

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MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking at UWE Bristol is best known for its experimental, forward-thinking approach to printmaking today and the future of the printed artefact. With a focus on making, you can explore and experiment with a diverse mix of traditional and emerging fine art printmaking media and develop ideas through processes such as laser cutting, enamelling, electronics, wood engraving and lithography.

This degree is an ideal springboard for professional artist-printmakers looking to extend their practice and also for those with less print-based experience to explore and experiment creatively, and gain valuable real world experience through the Professional Practice module.

Active links with the CFPR brings research expertise, opportunities for placements and access to associated symposia, conferences and exhibitions.

Key benefits

You will have the opportunity to explore your practice through a self-initiated placement/project/experience as part of the Practice in a Professional Context module. You will gain valuable insight into the professional arena and use your knowledge and skills to further develop your practice and future career aspirations.

Course detail

You will study alongside a broad base of students with diverse backgrounds in a professional, well-connected, research-active environment with full access to specialist facilities (some of the best in the country) and support from highly regarded master printers, practicing artists and researchers.

You will study in a creative, vibrant city with active arts communities and opportunities for collaboration and public engagement and gain valuable industry-insight from high profile visiting speakers from creative industries including Emma Stibbon, Sue Gregor and Otto Graphic.

Structure

The full masters course comprises 180 credits divided into three 60 credits stages: Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, and Masters. Students work incrementally through the three stages and must pass all modules at each stage in order to progress to the next.

Modules

• Introduction to Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking (30 credits)
• Research Practice (30 credits)
• Developing Practice (30 credits)
• Practice in a Professional Context (30 credits)
• Extended Practice (60 credits)

Format

Students are taught through a combination of seminars, technical workshops, lectures and independent self-directed study. Students learn from each other through presentations and open portfolios and guest speakers bring valuable real-world insight to the course.
There is strong emphasis on developing your creative, conceptual, technical and professional skills with support and guidance on careers and developing your own practice.

Assessment

You will be assessed on your body of practical work, contextually supported by the critical journal. For the Research Practice module you will be assessed on a presentation and written essay.

Careers / Further study

Our students are taught by practicing artists and researchers, bringing skills and expertise exclusively to those at Postgraduate level.

Many of our graduates enter or continue employment in the creative industries in professional studios, as self-employed artists, illustrators and designers running their own businesses or in teaching in both formal and community education programmes.

Spike Print Studio in Bristol, the largest open-access print studio in the South West, employs four alumni (including the studio manager). Others are employed at national studios including Curwen Studio and Lazarides Editions in London. Alumni have also established their own professional studios, for example John Lynch's Stereograph workshops or David Abbott's Chesapeake Ltd, Bristol.

How to apply

Information on applications can be found at the following link: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/study/applyingtouwebristol/postgraduateapplications.aspx

Funding

- New Postgraduate Master's loans for 2016/17 academic year –

The government are introducing a master’s loan scheme, whereby master’s students under 60 can access a loan of up to £10,000 as a contribution towards the cost of their study. This is part of the government’s long-term commitment to enhance support for postgraduate study.

Scholarships and other sources of funding are also available.

More information can be found here: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/feesandfunding/fundingandscholarships/postgraduatefunding.aspx

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Led by Professor Jo Stockham, the Print programme is a two-year specialist MA course. Renamed from Printmaking in 2015, this change signals that the study of the expanded field of Print is equal to the making of prints as a series of medium specific choices. We explore the mediated image approached through a range of intellectual approaches provided by a diverse team of tutors, all practicing artists. 

Access to world-class technical facilities in all print media means that we are able to both explore and expand the field of Print addressing the constant interplay between thinking and making, the image and technology. Students from a wide variety of backgrounds choose to study with us because of their interest in questions, which include, the nature of the copy, diagramming, appropriation, materiality of the image, the politics of print and print as a collaborative practice. 

Artists’ books and web based work as forms of distribution and explorations of narrative structures are a growing aspect of the course. We are benefiting from the renewed interest in the circulation, reception and creation of multiple images due to the ubiquity of digital images and computing.

We are embedded in a network of international print publishers, archives and galleries. A publishing project and exhibiting work are an integral part of the course. The potential for collaboration and residency situations where making work is a form of exchange is core to many students and we help them prepare for making applications to such opportunities. 

The aim of the programme is to enable students to work across a broad platform of media appropriate to their self defined ambitions and interests. By equipping graduates with experience of exhibiting, collaboration, editioning, lecturing, curating and a thorough critical engagement with a self defined body of work we aim to develop artists who understand the expressive nuances of different materials and forms of distribution in the expanded field of print. Evidence suggests they will be able to sustain themselves on graduation as exhibiting artists often engaged in related fields such as, teaching, publishing, curating and research.

An active research culture of staff, visiting artists, MPhil and PhD students is a core part of the programme and is shared through lectures, seminars, publications, presentations and exhibitions.

Alumni include, Andrea Buettner, Adam Dant, Mabe Bethonico, William Latham, Haris Epaminonda, Daniel Gustav Cramer, Christiane Baumgartner and Katsutoshi Yuasa.

The programme offers:

• a critical context to understand the field of Print through making, exhibiting, discussion and writing
• individual desk space 
• access purpose-built workshops, offering internationally renowned printmaking facilities and instruction in relief and intaglio, screen printing, stone and plate lithography and large-format digital printing
• access to college wide workshop facilities including metalwork casting, photography, ceramics and 3D printing. 
• opportunities for teaching placements, workshop placements, exhibitions, overseas travel and international exchanges
• an annual collaborative publishing project 
• introductions to archives and collections, (eg V&A, Tate and British Museum) and editioning workshops (Paupers Press, The Thames Barrier Print Studio, Curwen)
• a well-established publications programme which most recently published a print by Mark Titchner. Sales from these publications contribute to the Print Appeal Fund to support current students
• continued support for alumni through Alumni RCA and programme specific events

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The course is designed to enable you to strengthen your position as an artist with a move from undergraduate study or re-entry at postgraduate level characterised by an increased depth of research and increasingly sophisticated, critically reflexive, material practice.

The programme supports the development of your visual research process and enables a testing ground of methods, genres, concepts and contexts that challenge the boundaries and relationship between theory and practice.

Course content
The MA Fine Art is a broad, studio-based programme with an open and inclusive approach to fine art practice. The programme encourages both specialist and cross-disciplinary approaches enabling students to extend and deepen their knowledge and application of fine art practice.

The curriculum is structured on Practice as Research, through which specialist studio disciplines are developed within cultural, aesthetic and socio-political contexts supporting the creative exploration of ideas through practical skills, research methodologies, theoretical and analytical frameworks. This places individual practice at the centre of the programme. Studio-based modules run throughout the programme and maintain the dynamic interrelation between visual research, concepts and theory. Studio research can be developed within: painting, textiles, sculpture (including ceramics), printmaking and digital media.

Home Tuition Fees for 2017

1 Year full time taught including dissertation £5670.00.

Part time - 30 credit module fee £945.00. Dissertation fee £1890.00

There is an Alumni Discount of 10% for students applying within five years of completion of an undergraduate course at Chichester.

Overseas Fees for 2017 are £12,360.00

Our facilities
Over the past few years, we’ve redeveloped both of our campuses so that you have the best facilities available for your degree. We pride ourselves on the quality of the learning environment we can offer our students.

The Art department are situated in the dedicated artOne building comprising outstanding studio and workshop facilities. It is an exciting place to study, providing a dynamic and supportive learning environment for the production of original new art work.

The well-equipped workshops and studios provide environments for you to create experimental, inventive and ambitious work. The main studio space in the purpose built artOne building provides individual studio spaces for all students as well as bookable spaces for installation, performance and projection work. If you are doing studio practice modules, you will be allocated a personal studio base in which you can carry out your self-directed projects and art work.

All students also have access to workshop areas and technical support in the key disciplines of the Fine Art programmes. The workshops reflect the range of options across the various degree programmes. A distinctive aspect of the department is that of individualized working areas in the studio space.

Where this can take you
The course provides the opportunity to concentrate on a specific area of research.

Potential Careers

Professional artist
Art teacher, educator, or technician
Art administration and management in galleries and museums
Art therapy (with extra professional qualification) and art community work
Art journalism
Curator

Work placements
Recent students have worked on site-specific commissions, community arts projects, and work placements with local galleries and museums, residencies in schools, and even creating their own virtual gallery. The experience is invaluable in terms of working to time and budgetary constraints, and in dealing with the public.

Indicative modules
Distinctive features of the course:

Practice-based Fine Art research in Painting, Sculpture (including Ceramic), Textiles, Printmaking and/or New Media and technologies
Opportunities to work with nationally recognised arts researchers
Development of professional working practices
All students may leave with a fully functioning website for their own work (the emphasis being on the development of an existing site rather than building one from scratch)
Theory and Research Methodologies linked to practical studio work
Full time students offered studio space
Use of 'artOne' BA studio facilities for full and part time students in the summer period.
Optional modules:

The development of fully functioning websites for students' own work
Share in collaborative work through 'Practising Arts with New Technologies' module.

Teaching and Assessment
To gain an MA students need to complete four out of five modules plus the Independent Exhibition. This is an independent research project, and is largely practical, culminating in a professional context exhibition.

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Programme description

This programme is currently under review for the 2017/18 Academic Year. Please be aware that the programme structure and course availability is subject to change.

This programme encourages practices that are speculative and reflective, supporting work in a range of media. It is concerned with ways of learning that are experiential – embodied through and understood by the acquisition of a practice.

During the late 20th century, developments within visual art introduced new processes and situations, which resulted in an expanded concept of artistic practice.

Media-related disciplines supported by the programme include sculpture, painting and printmaking, photography, audio-visual and new media. The programme also encompasses approaches to practice that are non media-specific, including intermedia, time-based arts, performance, installation, public art and art writing.

Programme structure

You may complete the MA in one year, or continue on to the MFA. You will have access to a designated studio space and a wide range of studio equipment, technicians and resources, including printmaking, metal, wood, casting, painting, photography, reprographic and digital facilities.

Our students often work in groups across subject areas in the School of Art and collaborate throughout the year on critical, creative and curatorial projects. This gives you a unique opportunity to integrate the fields of art practice, art writing and curating, culminating in an exhibition of your own work or in a research project of your own design.

We regularly organise field trips and offer short residency and project opportunities with our local and international partners.

The programme also involves the theoretical study of this family of media and approaches, drawing on related fields and methods.

Facilities

Students on this programme will benefit from studio-based learning in Edinburgh College of Art's (ECA) historic Lauriston Place campus, along with the exhibitions and events associated with a vibrant art college. The art college experience will be complemented by the University's extensive range of student support facilities, its libraries, student societies, and student accommodation.

Our purpose-built studios are adaptable, serving both as working studios and project and exhibition spaces. Our workshops and foundry provide excellent accommodation for working in wood, metal, mould-making, casting and carving and there are facilities for working with sound, digital imaging and video editing.

The programme develops from a broad to a specialist understanding of the technical resources and validating contexts in which artists work today, drawing inspiration and nourishment from the experience of our international student cohort.

Career opportunities

This programme enables you to develop an ambitious art practice as well as providing you with the organisational and economic knowledge required to thrive as a self-employed artist. You will also be qualified to teach studio art in higher education and to work in the contemporary art sector.

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The Master of Fine Art in Fine Art (MFA) provides postgraduate studio-based arts practice, critical theory in fine arts and access to the professional skills and knowledge to succeed in a career in the fine arts. The programme will appeal to independent artists wanting to extend their practice within a critical research framework supported by practicing tutors. Artists looking to extend their career path into curatorial practice in the contemporary arts, collaborative projects with arts organisations, arts in socially engaged practices and/or further research will find support for this trajectory in this broad-based programme. Teaching involves lectures, seminars, and group and individual tutorials from active artists with research profiles. The programme will equip you with creative, interpretive, critical and analytical skills to develop an advanced understanding of contemporary art and its social, cultural and historical contexts.

The image above shows a close up of the work Nova by Saad Querishi, a former student of Fine Art at Oxford Brookes. Saad has been commissioned to produce a piece of work for the new areas of the campus and will be acting as a resource for the students on the programme.

Why choose this course?

Your artistic practice – An independent studio environment enables you to further your work within a supported critical framework. Through group and individual tutorials, staff/peer critique and presentations, an incremental approach is applied whereby you will confidently develop your work towards public exhibition/dissemination. There are two formal exhibitions during the MFA programme.

Flexible studio options – Students may select to locate their studio either at Oxford Brookes or elsewhere. Students working from their own studios will be eligible for a reduced tuition fee. 

Technical resources – The School of Arts’ workshops offer supported working environments in a range of specialist areas including: sculpture, photography, video, sound, printmaking and book-works. All our workshops are staffed by highly skilled and creative Technical Specialists.

Extra-curricular activities – You will gain exposure to a range of contemporary artistic practice through the thriving creative student community in the School of Arts at Oxford Brookes. You will participate in the lectures and film screenings set up by the Fine Art Research (FAR) Group. These include visiting contemporary artists, critics, curators and notable alumni. Free life drawing classes extend your drawing skills and optional local, regional and international field trips provide further stimulus.

Theoretical framework – Your ability to articulate your own creative position is enabled through a critical engagement with a range of scholarship informed by diverse practices by nationally and internationally recognised artists, collectives and movements. An early theoretical module explores contemporary art discourse through seminars informed by selected readings and in a later module you develop a more intense involvement with theory related to your individual research interests.

Professional development – The programme enables you to identify a professional focus which is likely to inform your subsequent career trajectory. This might involve research preparation, a placement, a collaborative project or exhibition management/curatorial practice. With the guided experience in this module our graduates are better prepared for a successful career as a professional artist.

Careers and professional development

How this course helps you develop

In addition to the support, teaching and development opportunities afforded by the curriculum, as a student you will be immersed in the active arts environment of the School. During your studies with us you will have access to the visiting speakers arranged for this and for other arts programmes, for the seminars and conferences in diverse fields, including publishing, film, music and digital production in the School. The field trips, visiting artists, PhD students and opportunities in the programme’s Professional Experience module offer a rich network of individuals and organisations that enable you to make useful contacts for your future career. 

Careers

Graduates from this programme will be well equipped to pursue their practice as independent artists who have a well-developed understanding of the theoretical and professional contexts of the current and contemporary landscape of the arts and creative industries. 

This programme is delivered within the School of Arts, which offers a vibrant environment for the creative industries including film, photography, music and publishing. Through the modules, which address practice, theory and professional experience, students are provided with links to engage with employment and further study opportunities, either as independent practitioners, facilitators or participants within a range of group and collaborative practices and contexts. 

Free language courses for students - the Open Module

Free language courses are available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

Please note that the free language courses are not available if you are:

• studying at a Brookes partner college
• studying on any of our teacher education courses or postgraduate education courses.

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If you have a degree but little experience in the study of art history, archaeology, and anthropology, this programme will prepare you for postgraduate study in the field. Students choose from the full range of undergraduate modules offered in the School to build a unique programme tailored to their interests.

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Summary

This course will develop your professional practice while engaging you with the hybrid nature of art and design in contemporary culture. This includes learning the effective application of art and design methodologies to challenge conventional viewpoints. Closely supported
by a multidisciplinary team of expert staff you will be encouraged to work across art and design, exploring the potential of various media, processes and working methods.

The course is part of the Art Based Master's Programme - an integrated framework that allows students to build their own course. Core modules in any given course become option modules in all other courses. Students will have an opportunity to engage with other students from diverse learning and professional experiences. Various freestanding options are available.

This course is divided into three trimesters to allow students to work towards a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or a Master's qualification.

Modules

Modules include: Advanced Practice 1 and 2; Research in Practice; Final Project.

A range of option modules are also offered. These include: Discourses in Art and Design, Strategic Marketing for the Arts and Photography as Research.

Assessment

Individual study is central to the course which can be determined through the various art and design disciplines; students are encouraged to consider the full range of material offered in the arts based Master's programme; students are expected to complete extended essays for option modules chosen and this helps extends their range of research in relation to contemporary culture and current debate; the final Master’s stage submission is a major project based on the student's research and development.

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Taught by practitioners with extensive experience in children’s books, graphic novels and illustrated stories and utilising an impressive list of specialists from all areas of publishing, the course is divided into three terms (if studied full time).

Each module is designed to be flexible, allowing you to bring your own specific interests to the course work while developing and expanding your visual language and understanding of the requirements and demands of successfully seeing through the activity of writing, illustrating and preparing a text for publication. Additional time will be spent looking at the available avenues and opportunities for publishing, including co-editions, book fairs (a dominant and crucial factor in successful publishing), self-publishing and the international publishing market.

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