About Painting MA in Coventry University

Spanning all cultures and an ever-expanding range of art styles, painting is now a vibrant part of contemporary fine art practice, which has experienced a renewed interest in recent years.

Major institutions and galleries, such as the Tate, have featured painting significantly over the past decade and it has benefited from an increasing presence in art journals. Elsewhere in the wider world, influential new painting has emerged from eastern Europe and China. Gaining a new relevance and focus, the discipline is viewed as a rich, complex language of its own.

Coventry School of Art and Design has taught art and design for over 150 years. Outward looking in attitude, this master’s course will encourage you to learn first-hand about painting and the art world in major British, European and worldwide centres. You will join our vibrant, creative community, which has already provided a wide range of exciting opportunities for our graduates, including painting, residency, exhibition opportunities, community work, curating and the development of PhD and research.

Why Coventry University?

An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.

Course information

Based around the development of your individual practice, the core ethos of this master’s is to enable you to harness your personal development and creative ambitions. We want to help you discover what kind of artist you want to be, so that you can flourish within the scope of contemporary painting and the broader cultural realm.

During the course, you will take two dedicated painting modules in which you will develop your personal painting practice. We aim to extend your knowledge of paint as a material and process, introducing a range of disparate approaches to painting – from realism to abstraction, material to conceptual.

Guided and supported by accomplished practitioners, you will be given opportunities to test and explore a range of ideas and issues relating to the traditions of painting. We encourage you to work in a range of media, including paint media, print, photography and digital technologies, as appropriate and depending on your own interests.

You will also undertake modules in contextual studies and professional practice, which are part of the wider Creative Arts MA programme in the Design and Visual Arts section of the School of Art and Design. These modules will help you contextualise your practice, gain research skills and undertake professional activity.

The course culminates with the common MA Project module, which comprises one-third of the course and takes the form of a personal project. Your final project will be tailored to your own area of professional practice and your personal creative passion, which will form the basis of an exhibition of your work in the end-of-year MA Degree Show. With a view to developing your professional profile, these shows are open to the public and attended by curators and other art world professionals.

Career prospects

Successful graduates may find careers as self-employed artists exhibiting in a wide range of galleries and artist-led spaces, or the growing field of gallery and exhibition curating.

The barriers between art and design practices are increasingly porous, so you may find careers in a range of areas as portfolio workers. You may also use this qualification to help enhance your prospects of entering a career in teaching.

During your time on the MA you will be guided and required to build a professional profile in preparation for entry into professional life. You will develop a wide range of transferrable skills associated with the use of information gathering, communication technology, professional practice, time management, project management and self-promotion.

Where our graduates work

Recent graduates have gone on to residencies, PhD study, exhibiting in a range of venues and community work.

Applicants should ideally hold a good honours degree 2.2 or above in Fine Art or equivalent visual arts course and be committed to the idea of Painting as discreet discipline. Non standard applications from candidates with relevant professional experience will also be considered on an individual basis.

English as a Foreign Language This course requires IELTS of 6.5 overall, with no component lower than 5.5. Pre-sessional English is available if required.

Coventry University Highlights

Coventry University The Average Tuition Fees And Other Expenses