Master of Fine Art (MFA) degree in Fine Art

The MFA at West Dean is a two-year full-time programme of study validated by the University of Sussex.

The MFA is a development of the postgraduate diplomas in Painting & Drawing, Sculpture and Tapestry & Textile Art and offers an advanced postgraduate provision for those students who wish to sustain a focused emphasis upon their studio practice in order to reach the highest levels of accomplishment. The programme is structured in accordance with the American College Arts Association (CAA) guidelines for MFA degrees, which are regarded in the USA as a requirement for those who wish to teach in art schools.

With its emphasis upon studio practice, the West Dean MFA programme integrates the philosophy and theory of contemporary art and investigates the ‘idea’ of making Fine Art through practical, theoretical and professional areas of study. Intensive teaching in a college which is dedicated to the finest standards of the crafts of conservation and making of fine and related visual arts, make this a unique offering in the UK. Successful students will be well equipped with a command of practice and theory enabling an authoritative engagement with the wider public and with other professional practitioners.

Tutors

Tutors at West Dean continue in Edward James’s tradition of creating a sense of magic and wonder through art and technique. These experts help prepare you for professional life after the programme by providing advice on setting up studio spaces, pricing your works and making contacts with galleries and agents suited to the promotion of your work. Teaching across all Visual Arts programmes at West Dean are:

Visual Arts Programme Tutor - Pat Taylor
Pat Taylorteaches on the Visual Arts Graduate Diploma and MA programme and across all Tapestry and Textile Art programmes and is the Director of the West Dean Professional Tapestry Studio. Her work hangs in institutions in several countries such as The Palace of Westminster and Great Ormond Street Hospitalin Londonand Chicago Universityin the USA.

Painting & Drawing and Sculpture Assistant Tutor - Marcus Rees Roberts
Marcus Rees Roberts read English at Cambridgebefore taking postgraduate study in Film Theory at The Slade School of Fine Art. He then took a further postgraduate programme in Printmaking. He has taught at The Slade and was Head of Printmaking at Edinburgh College of Art. He now makes paintings, prints, artists' books and short films, exhibiting regularly in Britainand in the United States. He is represented by Pratt Contemporary Art.

MA Visual Arts Tutor - Dr Roger Bown
Having studied at Leeds, Brunel and CardiffUniversities, Dr Roger Bownis a qualified teacher who has also achieved BA, MPhil and PhD degrees. He is a specialist in critical and cultural theory relating to Visual Arts and has held senior posts in a number of specialist colleges and universities before joining West Dean as Head of Academic Affairs in 2002.

Principal - Robert Pulley
Robert Pulley studied Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art after which he set up his studio and workshop in Londonwith help from the Crafts Council.He was a Senior Lecturer in Three-Dimensional Design at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication from 1989 to 1994 when he moved to Falmouth College of Arts as Dean. In January 2001 he was appointed Principal at West Dean Collegewhere he continues to practise as a furniture designer and lecture on the MA Visual Arts programme.

Candidates registered on any of the Visual Arts postgraduate diplomas will have fulfilled the entry requirements for the MA and MFA degree programmes. Progression to the MA will depend upon identifying and agreeing a suitable individual project to be undertaken.The MFA students will sustain a primary focus upon their studio practice and continue for a second year of full-time study.

Entry requirements

Candidates for the MA degrees should normally, in addition to fulfilling the entry requirements for the Postgraduate Diploma, possess a good honours degree or equivalent in a relevant subject. They will also be expected to have achieved a high overall grade profile throughout the first half of their Postgraduate Diploma.