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Solent Unviersity Southampton logo

Applied art at Solent

Driven by a passionate team of artists, curators and theorists, our applied art courses help you to develop the essential skills and industry awareness required for work in the creative industries. Whether it’s through our bespoke studios, dedicated workshops or media academy with the latest design software, we’ll help you explore your potential.

Solent University offers a range of courses for you to realise your creative potential including fine art, illustration, graphic design, prosthetics and animation.

Our progressive, unique, student-centred courses enable you to develop, define and perfect your skills as a professional artist at one of the top creative universities in the UK.

You will be taught new skills and techniques and will learn how to use a variety of mediums in order to produce art to a very high standard through sculpture, metalwork, welding, woodworking and casting equipment, print-making etching, digital printing, animation studios for 2D and 3D, as well as video and digital, and film photography processing.

The arts are an integral part of Southampton, with The Mayflower Theatre – the third largest theatre outside of London, and centrally located in the city – offering West End productions, opera and ballet. Southampton’s Cultural Quarter also offers a vibrant art hub of live music venues, galleries and theatre space.

You’ll be guided by a teaching team who are active within the industry or practising artists, whether running their own studios or presenting work on the international stage.

Frequently asked questions

Experience Solent for yourself at an open day

Courses

BA (Hons) Animation

Bring your creative ideas to life using traditional, stop-motion or CGI animation techniques and gain professional experience through industry connections.
A female art student working on a painting

Art and Design Foundation Year

Explore your creativity on a design foundation year at Solent University. Develop your technical, creative and study skills before your starting design-related degree.

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Nurture your talent for painting, sculpture or applied art, guided by a passionate team of artists, curators and theorists, in a supportive, creative community.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Carve out your career in design across print and digital platforms. Solent gives you freedom to explore your craft in dedicated design studios.

BA (Hons) Illustration

Turn the art of your imagination into crafted illustrations and build your portfolio using dedicated multi-media facilities and art studios.

BA (Hons) Prosthetics and Special Effects Design

Unleash your imagination to create characters for stage and screen and develop your portfolio of work using the latest design techniques. And learn from experienced industry experts.

Facilities

Solent's variety of art studios provide a space for individual creativity with professional, industry standard facilities.

Art studio facilities include: our sculpture workshop, with metalwork, welding, woodworking and casting equipment; our print-making workshop, with intaglio, dry point, etching, silkscreen, woodcut and letterpress facilities; a digital print workshop with high-quality, large-scale print facilities, high-end scanners and the latest software; as well as photography darkrooms and studios. Art students are allocated personal studio space within our specially designed and recently refurbished artists’ studios, and have access to a range of dedicated specialist workshops. Animation students have access to traditional light-boxes, special effects workshops and green-screen rooms. Students are also given free access to the Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and a full suite of Autodesk software. The special effects studios include a fibreglass lab, a plaster room, 3D printing labs, make-up and hair design studios, photography studios – including an infinity cove – and a range of well-equipped IT suites.


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