We offer four pathways within our BA Fine Art programme:

Media

In Fine Art Media you are encouraged to develop your ideas through hands-on making in the video and photography studios, the computer lab and project space, as well as in your own studio base. You will work with lecturers and technicians who have a deep knowledge of these areas, and the enthusiasm to help you develop the skills and insights you need to move towards a career in art or a related area.

Painting

The Painting at NCAD embraces the diversity of contemporary painting practice and possibility. The discipline of painting in all its forms is supported in the context of evolving and expanding art practices. The course is rooted in investigation of painting’s unique tradition and history and encourages new interpretation, innovation and experimentation. Every culture needs its artists and every artist seeks to change the culture. Painting is an old tradition that continually renews itself. Be part of the ongoing renewal. 

Print 

Print at NCAD is a central discipline within the School of Fine Art. It offers a unique studio environment – The Print Workshop – where collaborative and peer-to-peer learning is paramount. Students are encouraged to expand the parameters of print to include sculptural approaches, installation and digital media.

Sculpture & Expanded Practice 

This pathway offers a creative studio and workshop environment for making and exploring contemporary art. There are a wide variety of materials, processes and contexts to engage with while studying Sculpture at NCAD where we value experimentation and the development of unique creative voices. The Sculpture department has an established reputation for producing exciting, innovative and successful artists.

Year 1

On entry to NCAD, no matter what pathway you are registered on you will be instantly immersed in an exciting and unique interdisciplinary programme where art and design students work side-by-side and together to explore and discover the wide range of pathways open to them. Taught and guided in the studio by both art and design practitioners, you are encouraged to engage in an open and experimental research process in a manner that helps ensure that you enter the pathway that is best suited to your individual goals and abilities. 

Year 2 

Year 2 extends the conceptual and technical aspects of your work as it gradually becomes more self-directed. Students are supported and guided by a staff composed of practising artists. 

Year 3: Studio+ & International 

Studio+ is an optional year that gives students the opportunity between their second and final years to engage with the world beyond NCAD by gaining practical work experience in the form of internships and working on live commercial, social or community projects. Students can also take a number of electives from across NCAD and partner institutions. Studio+ can also include a work placement abroad or a study abroad period through the Erasmus programme with internationally recognised art and design faculties partnered with NCAD. Students who choose an Erasmus placement will graduate with a BA (International). 

Final Year 

Final Year students prepare for their degree assessment and presentation equipped with practical skills, conceptual understanding and supported by a personal tutor from departmental staff. Seminars, group critiques, gallery visits, workshops, demonstrations, lectures and visiting artists contribute to the programme. 

Critical Cultures 

A key component of your curriculum in every year is the study of Critical Cultures. This is where you study the connections between history, theory and practice in modern and contemporary contexts in order to become a critically engaged, reflective and effective practitioner. 

An art education offers a rich way of engaging with life. Many of our graduates go on to become practising artists in Ireland and internationally. We have a record of our graduates becoming significant individual artists and players in the cultural field, in established galleries and other sites, and in becoming part of artist/creative teams. We have many vivid examples of students self-starting and creating residencies, studios, pop-up exhibitions and all forms of cultural entrepreneurship. Our graduates are enabled to find imaginative, creative ways forward in the rapidly changing landscapes of our time. A number of our graduates also go on to postgraduate study, at NCAD and at other institutions nationally and internationally. NCAD offers MFA, MRes and PhD programmes as well as a range of CPD courses.