Master of Fine Art (MFA)

Overview

At the Postgraduate Centre at Arts University Plymouth, you will find yourself at the heart of a distinctive kind of creative and collegial community – an arts university run by artists and designers, for artists and designers – a space of thinking and making, and your open threshold to an international network of arts and cultural, commercial and industrial practitioners, businesses and institutions in which we engage, exhibit, curate and publish widely.

We continue to invest in our resources, workshops and studios, having spent over £12 million in the last five years on capital projects alone. We have recently invested £8 million in integrating 21st century and traditional creative techniques and processes within an outstanding craft, design and fabrication workshop complex. This new facility offers Computer-Aided Design and Manufacture (CAD/ CAM) within our Fab Lab, alongside Printing, Printed Textiles, Ceramics, Glass and Small Metals workshops.

In addition, computers campus-wide are installed with graphics, media and design software. We offer dedicated Painting, Drawing, Fashion, Photography, Film and Animation studios. We also house a public-facing Gallery on campus, with national and international exhibitions and a programme of visiting artists.

Our Library provides specialist Media, Art and Design and Fine Art materials, and our intranet-based Managed Learning Environment gives you access to online support and information.

Media and Photography Studios

Our students make full use of our industry-standard dedicated studio spaces – including our infinity cove, green screen, and specialist sound studio (with Foley pit and vocal recording booth) – plus our stop-motion suite, our darkrooms, and plenty of individual edit suites, all up-to-date with the latest industry-standard software.

Drawing Studios and Drawing Lab

With north-facing windows, a ‘methods and process’ area, individual studio space and a specialist life-drawing studio, our impressive, open-plan, triple-height Drawing Studio is a huge space, perfect for many different activities and specialisms.

Fab Lab

Our ‘fabrication laboratory’ is kitted-out with the latest in digital design technologies – from 3D printers to 3D scanners, a vinyl cutter, CNC milling machine, CNC router and laser cutter. It adds a whole new level of opportunity for students across all creative walks of life.

Fashion Studios and Sew Lab

Our large professional studio offers a real-life fashion experience in a light space with panoramic sea views.

Jewellery Design Studio

Housed in our fantastic Craft, Design and Fabrication Workshops, this stunning space provides everything for contemporary and traditional techniques in jewellery design.

Imprint Lab and Digital Print Bureau

Our Digital Print Bureau offers affordable and quick print services for all our students who are looking for anything from large-format or solvent printing, to photo printing, scanning or vinyl cutting, and a wide range of finishing services.

Textile Studios

With views out to sea and 35 metres of print tables to encourage experimentation, our Printed Textile Design Studios also boast a fantastic Mimaki fabric printer, digital embroidery resources, industrial sewing machines, sublimation printers, a dye lab, heat presses, a tufting gun and a Mac suite. It’s got to be one of the best printed textile workshops in the UK.

3D Wood and Plastics Workshop

Alongside the latest in new technology, we value the long-standing traditions of making in wood and plastics – and have developed an excellently-resourced workshop that is open to all our students.

Material Lab

In the Material Lab you will be encouraged to acquire haptic – touch-based – and manipulative skills and gain an understanding of material properties.

Multimedia Lab & Equipment Resource Centre

Our Multimedia Lab offers you the kit and expertise to become skilled in a wide range of processes and techniques across the fields of photomedia, moving image and sound.

Fabric Lab

In the Fabric Lab you will acquire material and process knowledge around texture, pattern, colour and construction – interlacing your skill-set through an understanding of textile and fabric properties.