Fine Arts - Unlimited opportunities
Regular field trips and input from visiting
practitioners are an important feature of the programme.
Specialist input by visiting practitioners is very important too.
Artists and curators come to YSJ to give one-off artist talks, lead
focussed tutorial and critique sessions or work alongside a
full-time academic member of staff to design and deliver a project
or module. These all contribute significantly toward personal and
professional development as does opportunities for international
exchanges in Europe and North America. Relationships with
York-based galleries and other visual arts organisations allow
us to contribute toward the cultural life of the city, ensure
students work is available for sale and commission before they
graduate, and offer local and regional galleries privileged access
to high quality contemporary fine art work.
Recent years have seen regular study excursions to London,
Liverpool (Liverpool Biennale) and Glasgow
(Glasgow
International) in particular. Regional field trips often
take place more often to our University partner Yorkshire Sculpture Park and other
programming venues such as East Street Arts and Project Space Leeds,
Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield. As part of our strategy to
‘internationalise’ student learning, students will have the chance
to visit European cultural centres such as Amsterdam or Berlin.
Visiting practitioners in 2009-2011 included Judit Bodor,
Meg Boulton, Shaun Caton, Kevin Henderson,
Kevin Hunt, Arnold Kemp,
Anya Lewin, Elizabeth Murphy, Benedict Phillips,
Emily Speed, Sally Taylor,
Lee Hassall, André Stitt, Nathan Walker and
Gillian Wylde. These are
all practitioners with international experience and are typical of
the calibre of visitors who work with our students.
We work with ‘According to McGee’ gallery
through their annual ‘York St John Past and Present’ exhibition and
‘The McGee Artprize’ which awards a solo show to a graduate whose
work featured in the Faculty’s CREATE
Graduate arts showcase. We have also worked with The New School House
Gallery on ‘What is an MA?’ an exhibition and events programme
for students on our MA Fine Arts programme. 2010 also saw final
year undergraduate students show work wider in the region as they
curated a group exhibition, ‘Strife’ as their Professional Art
Project module at East Street Arts, Leeds.