module specification

FA6006 Professional Practice 2: Fine Art is a subject-specific module supporting students to further develop their professional and academic skills. It will cover elements of professional practice for a variety of arts related careers. It will include learning how to write professionally in various formats, both for the public and professionals in the sector.  Students are expected to synthesise the experience and knowledge gained over the course, and employ a range of transferable skills in communication, negotiation, analysis, project planning and project management.

The module includes lectures and workshops to support students to deliver an professional artistic proposal, a working document that they will continue to develop, test and revise over the course of the year. A schedule of tutorials, supervision, technical input and workshops, as appropriate are available to enable students to realise their learning outcomes at the end of the module.

The FA6006 Professional Practice 2: Fine Art module serves and sustains an award on the BA Fine Art course only, delivered in a seamless and integral relationship with the work of other core studio practice modules on Level 6. Students are expected to investigate and develop critical and aesthetic working relationships between and across the Level 6 modules.

The module aims to let students show they have acquired coherent and detailed knowledge of specific fine art skills in writing professionally, including understanding curating and exhibition display and are able to deploy critical thinking.

The module also aims to provide students with work-related learning about social media platforms and websites to develop wider public and new art audiences, with a view to creating and updating a sustainable legacy of art career assets to aid employability.

Completion and pass (120 credits) of previous level.

At the beginning of the module, its aims, key concepts and milestones will be outlined to all students. There will then be teamwork sessions and guided independent study on the development of an artist’s statement (Learning Outcome 1, 2). Several sessions will be dedicated to the use of different strategies to reach an audience for own work (Learning Outcome 3). There will sessions dedicated to understanding how to produce different types of professional artistic proposals (Learning Outcome 4)

Scheduled teaching ensures that independent study is effective and addresses the learning outcomes and assessment tasks. Students are expected to (and to have the opportunity to) continue with their studies outside of scheduled classes. There will be a range of learning strategies deployed and individual learning styles will be accommodated. The module’s learning outcomes, its contents and delivery, have been scrutinised and will be regularly reviewed to ensure an inclusive approach to pedagogic practice.

The module and course utilise the University’s blended learning platform to support and reinforce learning, to foster peer-to-peer communication and to facilitate tutorial support for students. Reflective learning is promoted through assessment items and interim formative feedback points that ask students to reflect on their progress, seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, students build a body of work, including reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-related learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able, as they progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions.

On completing the module, the student should be able to:

1. evidence an understanding of the theory and practice of curating and display;
2. show an amplified ability to critically articulate and evaluate their practice through written text and presentations;
3. develop an enhanced professional outreach strategy;
4. understanding and applying the skills to produce a professional artistic proposal.

Formative Assessment Point:  (100%)

First Semester: Evaluative Artist Statement and interim Professional Outreach Strategy
(LO 1,2,3)

Summative Assessment:

Coursework 1: Artist Statement (30%)
(LO1, 2)

Coursework 2: Professional Practice Folder (including Professional Artistic Proposal, Professional Outreach Strategy) (70%)
(LO3, 4)

Summative assessment takes place at the end of the module. Written feedback addresses the strengths and weaknesses of individual presentations in relation to the grading criteria.

Work in both assessment items will be assessed against the learning outcomes in relation to the following criteria:

• Appropriate use of research methods and enquiry
• Quality of analysis and interpretation
• Knowledge of and relevance to the Fine Art subject
• Quality of communication and presentation
• Appropriate use of problem solving, testing and experimentation
• Management of own learning and personal professional development

Textbooks: Core
Kawasaki, G. and Fitzpatrick, P. (2014) The Art of Social Media, London: Penguin
Obrist, H-U. (2015) Ways of Curating, London: Penguin

Textbooks: Other
George, A. (2015) The Curator's Handbook: Museums, Commercial Galleries, Independent Spaces, London: Thames and Hudson
Graham, B. and Cook, S. (2010) Rethinking Curating, New York: MIT Press
Newhouse, V. (2005) Art and the Power of Placement, New York: Monacelli Press
Rugg, J. and Sedgwick M. (2009) Issues in Curating Contemporary Art and Performance, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Journals:
Journal of Curatorial Studies, Bristol: Intellect
Journal of Social Media and Society, Thousand Oaks: SAGE Journals
Journal of Social Media in Society, Stephenville: Texas Social Media Research Institute

Websites:
https://www.on-curating.org