Lancaster's Fine Art and Design degree is one of the few programmes in the UK where fine art studio practice and contemporary design sit alongside each other as equals. Rather than treating them as separate disciplines, the course brings them into conversation, encouraging you to move between making, research and critical thinking in ways that neither field could offer on its own.
Through studio projects, skills-based workshops, and live design briefs, you will develop both the practical skills and the conceptual grounding to work across a wide range of creative contexts. You will engage with real-world problems, explore questions of culture, environment, and emerging technology, and graduate with a practice that is distinctive, adaptable, and professionally grounded.
Why Lancaster?
- Take a highly distinctive programme that combines fine art practice with the study of contemporary ideas and art practice with the study of contemporary ideas and art movements
- Benefit from studio space with expert technical support on hand
- Work with tutors who are practicing artists and scholars, exhibiting and publishing their work across a range of fine art ideas and mediums
- Be taught by experts. Our design researchers and practitioners from ImaginationLancaster will encourage you to push the boundaries of design
- Join a supportive community of staff and students committed to making art and design relevant today, helping you build connections that will shape your future in the art and design industry
- Study in Lancaster, a vibrant and inspiring hub of award-winning arts festivals, events and places of cultural significance
Bring your vision to life
Our BA in Fine Art and Design at Lancaster is about finding your voice and deciding what matters to you in today’s creative landscape.
With a strong foundation in contemporary art practice, you will explore a broad range of materials, media techniques and methods alongside the history and context of art and design practices. You’ll discover how contemporary art and design can be bold, thought- provoking and meaningful.
You will experience design as a dynamic, creative practice for solving problems and developing ideas beyond traditional disciplines such as graphic or product design. By working across different contexts, you’ll develop adaptable skills that prepare you for wide range of career opportunities in the creative industries and beyond.
Our course will encourage you to explore big questions about society, business, technology and the planet. You’ll tackle real-world problems, learn how to design for sustainable futures and work with real clients in leading creative projects.
Throughout the process we’ll support you in shaping your values and understanding the evolving role of art and design. You will have the opportunity to tailor your learning experience by choosing how you want to specialise.
Dedicated studio space for hands-on learning
In your fine art practice you will work with diverse mediums in our purpose-built studios that include art studio spaces and workshops, a digital art lab, installation spaces, and fully equipped workshops.
You’ll be encouraged to experiment with painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, digital art, and their many hybrids, discovering how these different practices can drive your creative impulse. As well as refining your practical studio skills, you’ll also become a critical reader, able to examine how contemporary art is constantly evolving to create new and exciting ways of looking at the world.
In your design work you will develop practical skills for visualising and communicating ideas across a range of methods and media, including graphic and user experience (UX) design. You will engage with the design process in depth, learning how to conduct rigorous design research and translate your findings into physical and digital responses to complex briefs. You will also explore contemporary design tools and approaches, including a critical engagement with generative AI, examining what it can and cannot do and how it is changing the way designers work.
A thriving creative community
At Lancaster you’ll join our thriving creative community, working with experienced artists and designers who will help you build connections to shape your future in the art world and beyond.
Your Fine Art tutors are professional artists who are exhibiting, curating and writing across a range of art and ideas, including high profile residencies and commissions in museums, galleries and cultural industries worldwide.
Recent exhibitions include the Henry Moore Institute, the Foreman Art Gallery Canada and Hong Kong Art Fair, awards such as The Royal Scottish Academy William Littlejohn Award 2024 and the John Muir Trust Creative Freedom Award for 3d work 2024, as well as commissioned work for organisations such as The National Trust, FutureEverything and the Dumfries House Royal Drawing School.
In Design, you will be taught by researchers and practitioners from ImaginationLancaster, Lancaster University's internationally recognised design research lab. ImaginationLancaster works on some of the most pressing design challenges of our time, including smart environments, inclusive technology, service design, and design futures. Your tutors bring current research and active industry collaborations into their teaching, and you will benefit not only from their expertise but from the professional networks and values they bring to design as a socially responsible practice.
Lancaster is a hub of art and cultural activity, home to award-winning festivals such as, Lancaster Words and Litfest literary festivals and the stunning Light Up Lancaster festival of art and light. Many art events take place on Lancaster’s inspiring campus, and the University regularly partners with independent theatre The Dukes and The Storey arts centre to host exhibitions.
You will be part of a creative and intellectually vibrant community building lifelong connections with artists, external partners, tutors and other students.
Creative futures
Opportunities to develop your practice beyond the studio will give you a head start in your career. The chance to exhibit your work throughout the course will help you develop your professional skills and build your confidence. Hands on projects build networks and enhance your employability skills.
Previously, students have worked with our partnership arts organisations such as Deco Publique, Good Things Collective, Maritime Museum, FACT and Lancaster Arts.
In Design you will work on live briefs as well as with real clients, giving you valuable experience you can take forward into your career. In your final year, our Design Consultancy module enables you to work with a real client for the entire year. We help you gain professional contacts by inviting design professionals, many of whom are our alumni, to share their experiences of working in the design industry.
