MA Painting

What you will study

The MA Painting course has a 3-module structure allowing logical progression through defining, expanding, and articulating your practice via painting.

MODULES:

Locating (Core) - The Locating module is the critical foundation of the MA Painting program. Through intensive material exploration, contextual research, and analytical critiques, students will scrutinise the fundamental technical, conceptual, and theoretical dimensions of painting practice. The module focuses on positioning each student's work within the broader contexts of art history, culture, politics, and philosophy. Students will cultivate a critical language to articulate the complex relationship between painting, identity, and society.

Questioning (Core) - The Questioning module focuses on strengthening students' painting practice by situating it within philosophical debates and cultural discussions surrounding the evolving nature of the medium. Students will take conceptual risks and push conventional techniques through material experimentation that challenges traditional definitions of painting. The Questioning module equips students to effectively engage with contemporary painting discourse through both visual and written formats.

Articulating (Core)- The Articulating module focuses on developing a cohesive body of painting work to exhibit publicly, situating students' practices within the contemporary art world. Together with this, students will refine skills in writing, verbal articulation, exhibition curation, and professional documentation to effectively communicate the significance of their artistic vision. The Articulating module ensures students can proficiently navigate and articulate their work in professional arts settings.

Entry requirements & applying

All applicants to the MA Painting programme are required to submit a portfolio as part of the application process.

Portfolios are typically comprised of 10-15 images of your strongest, most relevant work, but can also include additional media elements such as video, writing samples, documentation of exhibitions, etc.

The portfolio submission allows applicants to demonstrate their talents, creative thinking, technical skills, and artistic motivations visually.

Reviewing applicants' portfolios gives our teaching team deeper insight into prospective students' potential to positively contribute to and successfully undertake this specialised postgraduate programme.

Teaching & Assessment

Teaching and assessment on the MA Painting programme takes diverse forms aligned with a practice-based curriculum.

Over the course of the programme, you will engage in a diverse range of teaching and learning approaches including tutor guidance and peer collaboration.

You will produce practice based studio work and keep reflective journals documenting your creative progress, artistic analyses and developing understanding of painting histories and theories.

Your participation in routine critiques and self-reflective writing foster critical and philosophical thinking about your growth.

Exhibitions of select works allow you to publicly present resolved pieces for review. In addition, you will submit summative written elements contextualizing your practice within critical frameworks.

Career prospects

Our Careers & Employability service is there to help you make decisions and plan the next steps towards a bright future. From finding work or further study to working out your interests, skills and aspirations, they can provide you with the expert information, advice and guidance you need.

This programme is designed to help improve students’ employability, as it will equip them with the skills needed when working in art and design interdisciplinary practices, such as: 

• Professional Artist/Painter
• Art Teacher (Schools, Colleges, Universities)
• Gallery Curator/Manager
• Museum Educator
• Art Critic/Writer
• Art Consultant
• Public Art Coordinator
• Arts Administrator
• Community Arts Worker
• PhD in Fine Art/Painting
• PhD in Art History/Theory
• PhD in Art Education
• Additional certifications (e.g. Art Therapy)

Diverse career paths (galleries, museums, curation etc)

Fees & funding

You do not have to pay your tuition fees upfront.

The fees you pay and the support available will depend on a number of different factors. Full information can be found on our fees & finance pages. You will also find information about what your fees include in the fee FAQs.

All fees are subject to any changes in government policy, view our postgraduate fees.

Programme specification

You can see the full programme specification here.

Subject to re-validation

As part of its continuous quality assurance and enhancement, the University reviews its courses on a regular basis to ensure that they reflect the needs of students and employers. Periodic review of the existing programmes is required every five years and major changes may be made to the programmes during the re-validation process. As soon as the programmes are re-validated the details of the course will be confirmed. The majority of courses that are still ‘subject to re-validation’ are approved by the validation process; however, this is not guaranteed and should the course not go ahead as planned, or be significantly amended, you will be informed by the university and assistance will be provided to those who have been offered a place to find a suitable alternative course either at Wrexham University or at another provider.