About MA Visual Art Practices

This MA is a unique initiative in art education in that it provides a cohesive interdisciplinary programme in visual arts production, visual arts curation and visual arts criticism. Students elect to follow one of these three pathways, and share a core set of lecture and seminar series. The focus is emphatically on contemporary international art practices.  The programme runs on a January-December basis and is one year full-time or two years part-time.

Aims and Objectives

The MA in Visual Arts Practices proposes:

• To educate you as visual arts practitioners (artists/curators/critics) through an integrated and multidisciplinary programme that provides you with the opportunity to make a comprehensive portfolio of work tested against the “real world” situations of contemporary practice
• To provide a comprehensive contextualised education which affords you a maximum opportunity for careers and employment in the visual arts, visual communication and media industries, and to pursue further research at PhD level
• To provide an integrated learning environment which enables you to fully develop the advanced professional, critical, conceptual, practical and technical skills appropriate to the breadth of contemporary visual arts practices
• To develop your ability to formulate and deliver ambitious and practically realisable projects at an advanced professional level
• To develop your ability to work both in a self-directed and critical manner, and as appropriate, to work as part of a team or partnership on multidisciplinary and collaborative projects at an advanced professional level
• To provide the necessary critical framework for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of contemporary visual arts from a historical, cultural, economic and social perspective
• To provide a visual arts education that embraces current and future professional developments in traditional media, “new” media, institutional practices and across the range of competing approaches to the visual arts

What will I be able to do when I graduate?

• The MA will enable you to obtain permanent/EPT posts at third level and PLC level
• The MA is widely recognised as the entry level standard for research based PhD programmes which are providing increasingly important pathways for visual artists and visual arts professionals
• The MA offers graduates from a non-fine art context (such as Design Communications, Languages, and Art History) an opportunity to re-orient their core skills so as to engage with the increasingly demanding critical and theoretical contexts of contemporary visual arts
• For Fine Art or Visual Arts graduates, the programme offers an opportunity to further develop their production of visual art, or to re-orient their core skills and aptitudes so as to engage with other aspects of the visual arts field

What are the Entry Requirements?

You must possess an undergraduate qualification of 2nd Class Honours or higher at Honours Degree level.  You must, in your application and at interview, demonstrate a significant engagement with contemporary art (by submitting a project proposal as part of your application). In exceptional circumstances applicants with professional experience at an advanced level (by which is meant extensive experience of, and achievement in, professional work in the visual arts field) may be considered for admission.

• Students intending to pursue the criticism pathway must submit two examples of written work.
• Students intending to pursue the artmaking pathway must submit a portfolio of (maximum 12) slides of recent* work (or CD Rom/VHS/DVD) – [* “recent” implies in the last year or two]
• Students intending to pursue the curation pathway must submit (as part of their project proposal) a statement which indicates how the proposal relates to the broader context of contemporary practice.

Can I study this programme part-time?

The MA in Visual Arts Practices will be offered on a flexible basis through the ACCS (Accumulation of Credits and Certification of Subjects) system as a complement to its availability for full-time study.  The structure of the programme will facilitate such provision.

Non-EU applicants may not eligible for the part-time programme and should consult the guidelines on Student Visa Applications, provided by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, prior to making an application.

What are the fees? The fees for the academic year 2007 are €5,275 for full-time students and €2,940 for part-time students. The fees include examination, registration and student services fees.  

Tax Relief for Fees Paid:This is an “approved post-graduate course” for tax relief under Section 21 of the Finance Bill, 2000 and students may be eligible for tax relief for fees paid.

Are there any costs for materials and/or field trips?

External visits are organised in order for students to gain experience of professional practice. A minimum of two international study trips must be undertaken by each student during the period of study and these trips are seen as an integral part of the programme. The cost of each trip is approx. €200 - €400. Students are also expected to cover the cost of materials employed in the production of their pathway specific projects.

What is the closing date?

For commencement in January 2008

Application form, project proposal and all supporting materials must be submitted by EU applicants by 4.00 pm on Friday 28th September 2007 and by Non-EU applicants by 4.00 pm on Friday 1st June 2007.  Referees must also return reference forms by this date. This earlier deadline is to facilitate the processing of visa applications by successful Non-EU applicants, who may require student visas in order to attend the programme.

Please contact the Admissions Office for an application form or log into www.iadt.ie.

* Note: This programme is subject to reaching a minimum number of participants in order to proceed.