Socially Engaged Arts Practice

Entry requirements

To join this MA you should have a second class honours degree, 2:2 or above.

Applicants are required to present a portfolio (or equivalent) at interview. Applicants are also asked to provide a short statement describing their practice to date and motivations for study.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Do you want to empower communities through the power of art?

Socially engaged arts practice seeks to do this, through collaboration and participation with people, through co-authored and co-produced activities that helps to define an environment, attitude or experience. Often the process of these interactions is as important as the visual artworks produced.

Students will be supported to consider pressing social issues such as inclusion, mental health, homelessness, regeneration and sustainability amongst many others to enable students of this course to explore a wider variety of real-life scenarios. Students will then be supported to apply an artistic approach and understanding to developing conversations and debate around these areas with relevant stakeholders within a community.

Artists have a history of using their creativity to highlight the topics that matter to them. If you want to be part of the next generation of socially engaged artists - through either full-time or part-time study - our socially engaged arts practice programme is for you.

We are also interested to hear from individuals who may be exploring curatorial or producing roles within social practice as well as artist delivery roles.

You’ll work with communities or projects that have a story to share, from youth clubs and local organisations, to cultural groups and institutions, such as the Turnpike Gallery in Leigh. You will use your arts practice to explore these compelling stories through the development of participatory events within this community, before potentially disseminating these findings to a wider populace, in a variety of forms. You’ll also gain an arts education relating to social issues, learning to use research and reflection to guide your creative process and create art that shines a spotlight on causes that matter.

This course is part of our suite of MA Art and Design programmes, which means you also get the opportunity to work collaboratively on a few modules with students from Socially Engaged Photography, Contemporary Fine Art, Visual Communications, and Creative Technology. We welcome and support you to work in a cross-disciplinary with your peers, echoing the way professionals work within the creative industries today.