Meet Hannah

I have said yes to every opportunity

Whilst here I have undertaken leadership opportunities - being a student mentor as well as a social secretary for Newcastle’s art society. I’ve assisted the painting of a mural at a community centre in Whitley Bay, and spent a year volunteering at The People’s Theatre in Jesmond, building sets and props.  

An extremely creative, independent and community led course

You enter first year being taught techniques about certain specialities (e.g. printmaking, sculpture, animation, painting, performance art). You end first year with a year led exhibition. In second year, you get to choose your art history modules. The studio element is fully independent, with tutor support. You can go into workshops to learn new skills and create art about anything you desire. You also get to choose a LifeWorkArt module, where you get taught about where your art degree could lead you (e.g. art therapy, curation, studio assistant).

Third year brings the same studio elements, with the option of teaching in art history and a compulsory art history dissertation. This year you also undertake your own LWA project. Fourth year is all your own creative practice. You’ll be working towards building art for your degree show at the end of fourth year.  
 
Fine Art at Newcastle is very independent and student led. You guide your own work, your studio hours, your inspiration and interests. You get the support of tutors through planned personal and group tutorials, but at the end of the day it’s a full coursework course, so it’s what you make of it.  

A great community feel with constant opportunities

Our facilities are incredible. The support from our workshops, tutors and technicians is incredible. We get a weekly external artist come in to give us an hour lecture about their practice, which opens our eyes to the different connections and opportunities post university. The course is small with only 70-80 per year. We constantly have department events, from weekly exhibitions to nights out to soup Wednesdays at our art café.  

It’s motivational to work alongside your peers

I love our shared studios. It’s super motivational and nice to work alongside your peers and to get to know those in other years. I enjoy how I get to create my own schedule. I get a perfect mix of academic work through art history essays, critical thinking and my dissertation, external community outreach and connections through the LWA module, and creativity through studio.

Transferable skills can lead to an abundance of opportunities

Fine Art is a much more open degree than one would originally imagine. The natural career path to follow is of course a practicing artist. However, this is not the only one. Fine Art has taught me critical thinking, organisation, self-motivation, independence, teamwork and creative thinking. These transferable skills can lead you to an abundance of opportunities.