Fine Art (MA)

Award
Master of Arts
Typical Offer
2:2 degree View full entry requirements
Duration
1 year
Course Type
Full-time
Campus
Winchester
Next course starts
September 2025

About this course

This MA Fine Art course enables you to develop your individual practices in a supportive and critically engaged studio environment. Over 12 months you will produce a body of self-initiated work, supported by in-depth research in the fields and contexts that inform your practice. Through this process you will consolidate your own artistic position, learning to articulate your central concerns and to locate your work in relation to the key theoretical, cultural, and political debates of the 21st century.

You will have your own dedicated studio space in which to experiment with new materials and techniques, to expand the range of your creative practice, to hone existing skills, and embark on new collaborations. This fine art masters attracts students from across the world, providing a uniquely international mix and enabling a multicultural perspective to emerge during seminars.

You will have weekly contact with staff and invited guest lecturers and regular opportunities to install and exhibit your work in the project spaces and galleries on site. Workshops will introduce you to the full range of our technical provision including traditional facilities for printmaking and sculpture and cutting-edge digital media, 3D printing and laser cutting technologies.

Winchester School of Art has an international reputation for excellence in both education and research and includes programmes in fashion, graphics, games design, curating, media, and textiles. The position of the school within the University of Southampton fosters exciting collaborations with a range of scientific disciplines including the Biomedical Imaging Unit, National Oceanography Centre, Web Science Institute, and others. This makes the course at Winchester ideal for those interested in interdisciplinary practices that bridge the arts and sciences.

Alongside the core studio practice modules you will choose from a range of optional theory modules that draw on the academic expertise from across the school. While our professional skills module will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to embark on a career in the creative industries, a fine art masters also provides an ideal introduction to artistic research for those considering a practice-based PhD.

The MA Fine Art course takes place in our purpose-built studios in the historic city of Winchester. Our quiet, beautiful campus provides an ideal location to escape distraction and focus on developing new work, while still within easy reach of London. Regular field trips throughout the course will keep you in touch with current exhibitions by leading international artists. We also work closely with the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton, a university partner and one of the UK’s leading contemporary art galleries.

We regularly review our courses to ensure and improve quality. This course may be revised as a result of this. Any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Find out why, when, and how we might make changes.

Our courses are regulated in England by the Office for Students (OfS).

Course lead

The course is led by media artist Stephen Cornford and other faculty members include John Gillett, Nick Stewart, Ian Dawson, Luci Eldridge, Larry Lynch and Christina Mamakos. Our students also have regular contact with researchers and practitioners beyond the Fine Art team including Victor Burgin, Ryan Bishop, Louise Siddons, Sunil Manghani, Alessandro Ludovico and Alexandra Anikina.

“It's been an amazing year. It's almost been like being on a residency. Spending time with (visiting artist) Anne Bean was just incredible. She really inspired me."”
Laura Perkins, 2019 graduate
“I can't believe how much this course has changed my artistic vision in such a short time.”
Hoda Alnasir, 2019 graduate
“I am convinced the MA Fine Art program has had a huge impact on my career. For example, my final project, Ghosting, was selected by two international film festivals at present, and I have also received some job interview invitations in UK Film, TV, Creative Media industries recently. So being a MA Fine Art student at Winchester School of Art is the best decision I never made.”
Shanshan Jiang, 2021 graduate

MA Fine Art | Student Interviews | 2015 - 2020

Interviews with our MA Fine Art students, sampled from the last five years of the course at Winchester School of Art.

Course location

This course is based at Winchester.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.