BA (Hons)
Fine Art

Key Information


Duration

3 years (4 years with Foundation Year)

Typical Offer

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Campus

Brayford Pool

Validation Status

Subject to Revalidation

UCAS Code

W101

Academic Year

Course Overview

Fine Art focuses on the artist as a socially responsive, publicly-aware practitioner, operating within physical, intellectual, and digital networks and referencing local, national, and global artistic platforms.

At Lincoln, the Fine Art programme offers the expertise and environment to nurture students' creative development and expression. It aims to enable students to extend their creative work and ideas into new areas, including publicly engaged art.

Students on the course are introduced to a range of professional and transferable skills. Academic staff are often practising artists and writers with national and international reputations, such as Dr Steve Klee whose work has been shown at LAM Gallery, Los Angeles, and Dr Alice Bell who has collaborated on projects with Damien Hirst and Sir Peter Blake among others.

A range of artists and professionals are also invited to deliver guest lectures and tutorials as part of the School's visiting artists' programme. Recent speakers include Assemble (2015 Turner Prize Winners), Mark Titchner, Jordan Baseman, Cath Keay, and Joshua Sofaer.

The programme explores contemporary art that moves within and beyond the traditional gallery to embrace a range of non-traditional sites, with assessments designed to prepare students for professional life. The course emphasises individual creativity and artistic intelligence, and aims to introduce students to the fields of Live Art, installation and digital media, as well as catering for painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking.

At Lincoln, students have the opportunity to work both with and beyond a dynamic studio culture. The course aims to enable students to extend their creative work and ideas into new areas, including publicly engaged art. Students can choose to join study trips, which introduce significant artworks and the ideas behind them. Previous study trips have visited destinations in the UK and overseas.

This programme is also available with an Arts Foundation Year, which can provide an alternative route of entry onto the full degree programme. Find out more at https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/course/afyafyub/.

Why Choose Lincoln

Subject ranked in the top 20 overall in the UK*

Staff include practising artists and writers with international reputations

Visiting artists deliver guest lectures and tutorials

Access to studios, workshops, and an on-campus public gallery

Join study visits to destinations in the UK and abroad

Opportunities to exhibit your work

*Complete University Guide 2024 (out of 84 ranking institutions).

YouTube video for Why Choose Lincoln

How You Study

In the first year, students are encouraged to experiment with traditional media, digital practices, and live art in order to identify key areas of personal interest.

The second year aims to guide students in the development of their individual practices and there are also opportunities to exhibit work outside of the University.

In the third year, professional practice modules offer students the ability to refine their individual development and reflective practice, culminating in their final-year degree shows.

Methods of delivery on the Fine Art programme vary from module to module and may include lectures to larger cohorts, seminars with smaller groups, guided workshops across the University's facilities, and focused studio tutoring in both group and one-to-one situations.

Modules


† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

Bodily Encounters 2024-25ART1017MLevel 42024-25This module focuses on the subject and roles of the body in contemporary art practice. Students will have the opportunity to work with a range of media, materials and practices, provocations, processes and potential outcomes to produce their own Finished Artworks focusing on the body as subject or object. The module will study bodily precedents in art practice and focus on the body and its image/performance through a series of skills workshops underpinned by a contextual element exploring the body's identity in contemporary art. Workshops will include The Performing Body, Composing the Mediated Body and Dirty Bodies: the abject body in contemporary art.CoreExploring 1: The Creative Arts 2024-25LSCA1001Level 42024-25CoreFrameworks 2024-25ART1016MLevel 42024-25Frameworks is a practical module that offers experience in developing processes for working to produce art in dialogue with, and in response to, notions of 'the public'. It highlights the programme's technical facilities and offers professional skills in the production of an arts practice, and the capture, composition and creation of digital documentation to accompany artistic output. The module is partly based in the studio but also operates across the wider University campus in order to engage with its diverse publics and spaces. Students experiment with making artwork in response to the module's theme, and receive training in technical equipment and software through demonstrations. Studio-based teaching and learning is also key to Frameworks, and students will engage in one-to-one and group tutorials, group crits, and other activities to enable the development of a professional arts practice.CoreProject Space Plus 2024-25ART1018Level 42024-25The module provides students with opportunities to develop their practice in response to critical spatial practices. This includes: writing a proposal that responds to a Live Brief theme; creating an artwork for a public exhibition/event; writing a contextual statement; utilising appropriate documentation techniques of creative practice; and disseminating responses to the contexts of spatial practice. This Module asks students to create a proposal and a new artwork for a curated exhibition/event in the University’s Gallery, Project Space Plus. Students will learn about curatorial issues through lectures and workshops, which will then be put into practice through the curation of an exhibition/event that will include all students on the module. Artworks are specified here as being considered in the widest sense to include creative media including but not restricted to: dance, digital, drawing, installation, music, painting, performance, print, sculpture, sound, text, video, virtual reality). Students are introduced to established and alternative models for spaces where creative arts take place. Students are encouraged to create work that imagines alternatives to the fixed, institutional space of an exhibition and how artwork can effectively engage a public audience through its situation.CoreMaterial Entanglements 1 2025-26Level 52025-26Material Entanglements 1 provides students with the opportunity to concentrate on developing their artistic practice to produce artwork while broadening and strengthening the documentation of their art. The module concludes with a large exhibition and marks the half-way point of the programme. The module continues the dialogue between identity and practice begun in in Frameworks and Bodily Encounters in Year 1. Examining the impact of politics, environment and social change, it asks how these public dialogues can influence the bodies and identities of artists, and how artists are able to make use of these impacts in their art. The module also engages with modes of exchange, current climates and artistic identities within global contemporary art.CoreMaterial Entanglements 2 2025-26Level 52025-26CoreFine Art Study Abroad 2025-26ART2022MLevel 52025-26The Fine Art Study Abroad programme is an optional module of study involving a Semester-long exchange with a partner institution overseas. During the Semester abroad (in the second half of the second year of study) students will share classes with local students. Not only will Study Abroad students be living and socialising in another culture, they will also have an opportunity to examine international Fine Art practices through attending exhibitions and events as part of modules and participating in extra-curricular activities.OptionalSituated Practices 2025-26Level 52025-26Situated Practices, an optional 30 credit module in Semester B, is a live brief project that offers students the opportunity to work in a professional public setting to facilitate artwork with participants. This may be a community, charity, educational, public or private sector setting in Lincoln or elsewhere. You will be given the opportunity in this module to facilitate artwork with service users, communities or clients in organisations such as We Are With You / Double Impact / NHS / YMCA / HMS or another charity or community setting. We have successfully worked with We Are With You / Double Impact Lincoln for the past 7 years, a national drug and alcohol charity offering support to people to enable them to make positive behavioural change. Their work encompasses community support, education, help for those in the criminal justice system, mental health services, family and employment support. In recent years we have also started to grow our community settings to provide students with further professional facilitation experiences such as working with adults with lived experience within the NHS and local communities at Doddington Hall, that draw upon community arts, participatory arts, arts psychotherapeutic methods and occupational health approaches. Students considering a career in arts-led intervention or community arts practices, will gain invaluable experience of planning, training for, delivering and evaluating a participatory art process within a community setting.OptionalArts and Cultural Industries 2026-27DRA3056MLevel 62026-27This module offers you the opportunity to develop a detailed understanding of the arts as an ecosystem in relation to the wider world. You'll be introduced to the organisational infrastructure of the creative sector to equip you for a career in the arts and enhance your core employability skills for life after graduation. Acknowledging that what happens offstage is as important, if not more important than what happens onstage, this module provides you with real-world guidance for working in creative and cultural industries though lectures, discussion, group and individual working, research, and a series of talks and presentations from industry professionals working in a variety of creative contexts. You'll also be encouraged to keep abreast of government policy and issues such as audience accessibility and diversity within the arts, and ask how the current political climate shapes this generation of arts organisations, makers and companies.CoreExploring 3: Investigating Creative Practice 2026-27Level 62026-27This module requires students to complete an extended final year project and identify research questions pertinent to their own interest or specialism. Students will devise, plan, research, draft and complete their own individual research project on a subject of their own choosing in their chosen discipline. Students will have the option to conduct practice based, practice led research or a fully written thesis using appropriate academic conventions.CoreLaunching Practice: Degree Show 2026-27ART3015Level 62026-27In this module, students are expected to develop, finish and exhibit signature artworks in a gallery or negotiated venue appropriate to their practice. The module aims to support the student in creating a professional representation of their practice in the media(s) of their choice. Refining and consolidating students' practical specialisms, the module situates individual practice at its core. Staff supervise and support students to focus on the fundamentals of making in terms of criticality, process and materials to produce finished artworks for a professional public exhibition. Students work together in organising and promoting the exhibition and accompanying digital catalogue.CoreLocating Practice 2026-27ART3017MLevel 62026-27Locating Practice is an exploration of site-based approaches to Fine Art delivered in the City of Lincoln and its immediate surroundings. This Module develops the practical and theoretical dialogues in The Gallery and Beyond The Gallery and reframes them in the context of the wider physical world outside the traditional Gallery. The module aims to prepare students for the demands and timescales of independent practice and its professional evaluation. Subjects include Audio, Art and The City, Walking and Performance as Art, Pervasive Media and Digital Practices, the Located Body and Evaluating Practice.Core

What You Need to Know

We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. In addition to the information provided on this course page, our What You Need to Know page offers explanations on key topics including programme validation/revalidation, additional costs, contact hours, and our return to face-to-face teaching.

How you are assessed

Assessment will include finished artworks and documentation, presentations, essays, catalogues, and evaluations.

Student Work Showcase

Visiting Experts

A range of artists and professionals are invited to deliver guest lectures and tutorials as part of the Lincoln School of Creative Arts' visiting artists programme. Recent speakers include Assemble (2015 Turner Prize winners), Ming Wong, Mark Titchner, Cath Keay, Jordan Baseman, and Joshua Sofaer.

Facilities

All Fine Art students have access to studios and workshops, as well as the University’s on-campus public gallery, Project Space Plus, where students regularly exhibit their work. Students can make use of software that supports their documentation and practice, and have access to photography, video, and audio facilities; acrylic resist etching, digital imagery, and screen printing equipment; and facilities for wood, metal, plaster, plastics, and resin work.

A exhibition of student work in the on-campus gallery

Field Trips

Students on this course may have the opportunity to undertake field trips. Mandatory field trip costs are covered by the University but optional study visits, to locations such as Venice, are at your own expense. In the past, students have enjoyed a fully-funded trip to Dartington to work collaboratively with other students from the Lincoln School of Creative Arts.

Networking

Students are encouraged to take advantage of the networks and connections that they may be brought into contact with during their studies. Recent successes as a consequence of Fine Art's networks have seen students gain residencies at the Art House in Wakefield, Mansions of the Future in Lincoln, and the Surface Gallery in Nottingham.

Throughout my three years, I was challenged, supported, and believed in. This course has an equal balance in educating you within the arts while developing your practice as an artist. The support and the design of the course makes the idea of working professionally as an artist a reality.

What Can I Do with a Fine Art Degree?

Lincoln’s Fine Art degree aims to empower students to develop technical, critical, and professional skills. It aims to prepare students to enter careers throughout the creative industries. This may include working as freelance artists, curators, administrators, and writers, as well as roles in art therapy and teaching.

Entry Requirements 2024-25

United Kingdom

112 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of 3 A Levels or equivalent qualifications.

A Levels: BBC.

International Baccalaureate: 29 points overall.

BTEC Extended Diploma: Distinction, Merit, Merit or equivalent.

T Level: Merit

Access to Higher Education Diploma: 45 Level 3 credits with a minimum of 112 UCAS Tariff points.

Applicants will also need at least three GCSEs at grade 4 or above, which must include English. Equivalent Level 2 qualifications may be considered.

The University accepts a wide range of qualifications as the basis for entry and do accept a combination of qualifications which may include A Levels, BTECs, EPQ etc.

We will also consider applicants with extensive and relevant work experience and will give special individual consideration to those who do not meet the standard entry qualifications.

International

Non UK Qualifications:

If you have studied outside of the UK, and are unsure whether your qualification meets the above requirements, please visit our country pages https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/entryrequirementsandyourcountry/ for information on equivalent qualifications.

EU and Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/englishlanguagerequirements/

If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-sessional English and Academic Study Skills courses.

https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studywithus/internationalstudents/englishlanguagerequirementsandsupport/pre-sessionalenglishandacademicstudyskills/

For applicants who do not meet our standard entry requirements, our Arts Foundation Year can provide an alternative route of entry onto our full degree programmes:
https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/course/afyafyub/

If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the Admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk

Contextual Offers

At Lincoln, we recognise that not everybody has had the same advice and support to help them get to higher education. Contextual offers are one of the ways we remove the barriers to higher education, ensuring that we have fair access for all students regardless of background and personal experiences. For more information, including eligibility criteria, visit our Offer Guide pages.

Portfolios and Interviews

Successful applicants will be invited to an interview, where they will have the opportunity to go through their portfolio with a member of the academic team.

If you are invited for an interview you will have the opportunity to show a traditional and/or digital portfolio with you. This will form the basis for a discussion of your current interests in Fine Art and how you would like to develop your ideas and practice at Lincoln. You will need to clearly describe and explain the work you bring with you. Interviews are designed to make sure we're right for you, and you are right for us. We understand they can be daunting, but try not to worry. 

A range of work is useful, but as a guide we would recommend that your portfolio should consist of no more than 10 to 15 pieces. We'd like to see a range of images and examples of video, audio, or photographic work as applicable to the work you have made. 

Fees and Scholarships

Going to university is a life-changing step and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found on our course fees pages.

Course Fees

For eligible undergraduate students going to university for the first time, scholarships and bursaries are available to help cover costs. The University of Lincoln offers a variety of merit-based and subject-specific bursaries and scholarships. For full details and information about eligibility, visit our scholarships and bursaries pages.

Course -Specific Additional Costs

Most students will need to buy materials appropriate to their practice. These might include (but are not limited to): paint, wood, and other relevant materials. Materials costs for this course will depend on the medium you choose to work in, but will typically range from between £100 and £500 per year.

Students may benefit from a range of subsidised study trips (which include transport, accommodation and admission charges as appropriate), activities, and events which aim to benefit and enhance their studies and practices.

Optional study trips may also be available, and the full costs of these will be incurred by the student where offered. These range from approximately £20 for a day trip to £400 for an international trip of between three and five days. All costs incurred need to be paid upfront. Participation in study trips is not graded.

Find out More at an Open Day

The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to join us for one of our Open Days. Visiting us in person is important and will help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.

Book Your Place
Three students walking together on campus in the sunshine
The University intends to provide its courses as outlined in these pages, although the University may make changes in accordance with the Student Admissions Terms and Conditions.