Welcome to your Contemporary Arts Practice course

Welcome to the Contemporary Arts Practice Course here at University of Staffordshire!

Mobilise your art practice: from production to encounter. You’ll get to work in our on-campus studio spaces and project spaces, hosting public exhibitions and exploring new forms of public engagement.

This dynamic MA in Contemporary Arts Practice will equip you with transferable and industry-relevant skills, including end-to-end creative project management, enabling you to become resilient and independent as a practitioner.

The course is ideal for students with visual arts backgrounds, but also relevant to other arts-related disciplines. You’ll have scope to use a diverse range of materials, processes and approaches, and will benefit from working in a trans-disciplinary environment.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to spark critical artistic discourse and explore cultural contexts by creating work through public encounters. Artists are instrumental in rethinking social and physical environments, helping to build cultural infrastructure through critical thinking. On the MA you will draw on issues you feel passionate about as a ‘citizen-artist’.

On campus, you will have your own individual studio space, and access to our full range of workshops, enabling you to engage with digital and analogue processes and materials.

We will go through the details of the course, its activities and structure, during the first introductory session, but do drop Ian Brown an email if you have any questions before this date: i.brown@staffs.ac.uk

Course Delivery

Your Contemporary Arts Practice course will operate via a range of teaching and learning activities. You will have one-to-one tutorials, lectures and seminars, crit groups and site visits. You will have your own MA studio space and access to technical facilities in order to engage in the development of artworks and practice-based methods. Alongside this you will be supported in an understanding of your developing research enquiry (questions, aims and objectives, methodologies and contexts) to discover how you can contribute to the field. You will be supported in testing out the dissemination of your practice and audience engagement, in order to understand the potential roles of the artist in society.

As part of the course’s focus on the contexts of ‘the local’ and ‘the global’ we will be discussing and engaging in different cultural, social and geographical contexts. During Semester 2 there will be day visits to organisations in Stoke-on-Trent and a residential visit to London. The London trip is financed by the University and so your accommodation and travel to and from Stoke will covered.

We will also use Blackboard to support you in your studies, and you will be introduced to this in your induction session to the course.

Semester one activities

Your first semester on MACAP will allow you to focus on how to be effective in the production of artworks, the focusing of an enquiry, engaging audiences, the creation of connections and an understanding of how your research can contribute to your particular field.

Dimensions of Contemporary Practice is focused on supporting you to question, understand and apply practice-based methodologies appropriate to your individual enquiry. You will consider your practice in relation to the development of your own Research Questions, Aims and Objectives and Methodologies.

Connected Practices supports you to understand the breadth of the dimensions in which contemporary practitioners and their practices ‘connect’ with other practitioners, critical discourses, audiences and networks. You will explore the potential for this connectedness, which could include collaboration or co-production/co-authorship, related to professional or artistic contexts and assist in the development of skills, methods, idea generation and audience development.

Before you start

It is always important to keep up to date with current practice by visiting exhibitions as an ongoing activity. Ahead of stating the course looking at online listings for exhibitions that may have relevance for you:

https://www.newexhibitions.com

If you want to get a feel for the course by doing some reading before you start, you can explore the following texts to help you to prepare for Dimensions of Contemporary Practice and Connected Practices:

Pitts S E and Price S M (2020) Understanding Audience Engagement in the Contemporary Arts. Routledge

Read online here

 

Fischer E (2010) The Necessity of Art. Verso

Read online here

 

Fuchs C (2016) Critical Theory of Communication, University of Westminster Press

Read Online here

 

Christensen-Scheel, Boel ; Aure, Venke ; Bergaust, Kristin (2022) Artistic and Art-Based Research Methods: The Mutual Developments of Theory and Practice in Contemporary Art Research. Nordic Journal of Art and Research, 2022-10, Vol.11 (1)

Read online here

 

Cottrell, S. (2017) Critical thinking skills: effective analysis, argument and reflection. 3rd Edition. (Palgrave Macmillan).

Read online here

 

Moon, J. (2004) A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: theory and practice (Routledge Falmer.).

Read online here

Equipment and software

If you have been a previous undergraduate student with us, then you will continue to be able to use our facilities and equipment (though you may need some additional training if you require the use of new kit).

If you are new to University of Staffordshire, we will help you identify the equipment you use and ensure you receive the proper training at the start of the course to allow you to access it.

Trips and events

As part of the course’s focus on the contexts of ‘the local’ and ‘the global’ we will be discussing, and engaging in, different cultural, social and geographical contexts. During Semester 2 there will be visits to organisations in Stoke-on-Trent and London.

Meet the team

Professor Ian Brown

Professor

Prof. Brown’s research investigates how contemporary social identity is constructed through rituals of consumption within popular culture. His research also explores the Invented World and the Natural World, including plant/human relations.

Ian's profile

Rebecca Nunes

Associate Professor Of Lens-Based Media

Becky Nunes is an artist and educator whose work has been awarded, published & exhibited locally and internationally. Nunes’ lens-based practice considers the complexities of land use and amplifies marginalised and polyphonic voices.

Rebecca's profile

Michael Safaric Branthwaite

Associate Professor

I am a Contemporary Fine Artist as well as an active researcher in integrated practices. My main area of interest is the use of technology and the digitisation of History and Heritage

Michael's profile

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.

We look forward to welcoming you to the course.
If you have any questions before starting, please contact Ian Brown: i.brown@staffs.ac.uk

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021