Art & Design Courses in Wellington, New Zealand

Massey University College of Creative Arts, Wellington:
The College of Creative Arts at Massey University provides a thriving, well-resourced and inspiring learning environment that fosters research, scholarship and creative practice. From selected entry to completion of their degree, students are equipped with a knowledge base and skill set that enables them to flourish in the creative industries, win awards, represent New Zealand and hold key positions that define creative thinking in businesses around the world.

Bachelor of Design and Bachelor of Design with Honours
Whether majoring in fashion, photography, visual communication, textiles, spatial or industrial design, as a College of Creative Arts design student, you’ll be creating products, systems and experiences that offer new potentials for living.

Through hands-on studio projects, you’ll learn to generate and develop ideas, work inventively with a wide range of materials and media, and communicate fluently, both visually and verbally, in the production of innovative work.

You’ll be working within your major to develop specialist skills and understanding, as well as experiencing how other design majors approach projects, through moments of contact and collaboration.

You’ll graduate prepared to work in a fast-paced and changing global market.

Year one is about introduction and exploration.
Years two and three allow for development and consolidation of your specialisation.
In year four you push the boundaries of design with a significant independent project.

If you choose the Honours route, your final project will be strongly research-led, while the non-honours path is less research-focused. Along the way there are plenty of chances to explore through electives, and exciting opportunities for internships and international exchanges.

Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours

As an art student at the College of Creative Arts you’ll be producing work that makes us think and feel, act and react, whatever your mode of art-making – performative, digital, object-based, lens-based, paint, print, installation, film.
Through intensive studio engagement you’ll experience a wide range of approaches to making art, and develop your own unique practice. With a programme that is not media-specific, focusing on the methods and ideas of contemporary art production, you’ll make bodies of new work that are responsive to a variety of contexts, supported by technical workshops that assist you to develop the practical skills you need.

You’ll graduate as an inventive, creative, dedicated, resilient thinker and maker, able to define your future career in a broad spectrum of creative fields.

Year one is about introduction and exploration of art and design.
In years two and three you have a dedicated studio space to develop your increasing independence as an artist.
In year four you extend yourself and your approach to art-making with a significant independent project.

In the BFA(Hons), your final work is strongly research-engaged, while the BFA pathway is less research-focused. During your study you can explore art, design and other disciplines through electives, develop your professional capability through internships and business papers, and broaden your horizons further through international exchanges and study tours.

Graduate Diploma in Design

If you already have a degree and want to change your career path or enhance your professional skills, a Graduate Diploma in Design gives you a great opportunity to cultivate your creativity and develop design expertise.

For one full-time year (or equivalent part-time) you’ll be studying with other design students in papers at 200, 300 and 400 level across any of the six majors: fashion design, industrial design, photography, spatial design, textile design or visual communication design. In studio classes you’ll be immersed in hands-on doing and making as well as discussion and debate. You’ll hone your creative problem-solving and critical thinking abilities, and develop specialist design capabilities at an advanced level.

You can plan a flexible course of study, which takes into account your aptitudes and aspirations, from both core and elective Bachelor of Design papers. You’ll take a total of 120 credits, with at least 75 credits at 300-level or above. You can either study a coherent suite of papers from a specific design major, or alternatively sample a range of papers from across the broad range of specialisations we offer. Come and talk to us before you apply and we can help you tailor your programme to fit.

Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts

Today, artists are increasingly being drawn from a range of different disciplines. If you already have a degree in another field, studying fine arts can offer you an exciting extension of your own interests and expertise and an opportunity to develop your critical and creative thinking and making skills. The Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts has been designed with this in mind.

For one full-time year (or equivalent part-time) you’ll be studying with other fine arts students in papers at 200, 300 and 400 level. In the large art studio papers you’ll be supported to work in any media in an interdisciplinary studio environment, including: sculpture, painting, drawing, performance, installation, moving image, photography, printmaking, site-responsive work, curatorial activities, and art writing. Other study could include a range of studio papers that develop your practice further, or critical and contextual studies that helps expand your knowledge of art and design discourse.

You can plan a flexible course of study, which takes into account your aptitudes and aspirations, from both core and elective Bachelor of Fine Arts papers. You’ll take a total of 120 credits, of which at least 75 credits will be at 300-level or above, including the core 300-level art studio papers.

Come and talk to us before you apply and we can help you tailor your programme to fit.

Diploma in Photography

The Diploma in Photography is an intensive kick-start to a professional photography career, developing your vision, your knowledge and your technical expertise. You’ll be exploring a broad spectrum of photographic practice, including concepts and skills associated with commercial and documentary photography, exhibition skills and electronic imaging.
In the studio and on location, from the darkroom to the digital environment, during the two years of the diploma, you’ll extend your practice and your thinking. You’ll have access to state of the art digital suites and printers, as well as many wet-based photographic processes, with expert technical support.

You’ll be taught by some of New Zealand’s leading photographic practitioners and in your second year you’ll undertake significant independent projects that will enable you to develop your work to a high level of creativity and technical proficiency.

Certificate in Visual Arts and Diploma in Visual Arts

If you’d like a taste of design or art then a Certificate or Diploma in Visual Arts is the way to go. You’ll be introduced to the basics of art and design - creative thinking, visual communication, specialist skills and critical awareness – through a flexible programme of study with lots of choice. No portfolio is required, just passion.

You can either enrol in the Certificate (60 credits) or Diploma (120 credits) in Visual Arts, by taking papers at 100-level or above from the schedule. You’ll study with art and design degree students in a range of studio and lecture-based papers. These exciting electives cover everything from critical and contextual studies, to social media, painting, and digital fabrication. This can be a good way to develop your portfolio for entry to the degrees. If you are later accepted into the BDes or BFA, you can credit papers you have already completed to your degree (by surrendering the certificate or diploma).

Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art

The Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art provides a unique opportunity for advanced study in contemporary art and an entry point into fine arts postgraduate study at Massey University.

The programme combines theoretical inquiry with studio-based practice, focusing on identifying, exploring and developing research methods that are relevant to current art practices and enquiry.

Particular emphasis is placed on:

exploring process as a key component of art making
developing advanced research techniques and methodology
learning strategies that aim to refine and enhance your working methods
building an extensive knowledge base of contemporary cultural history and theory that gives you the confidence to negotiate your own relationship between theory and practice
laying the groundwork for MFA study.
The curriculum covers two postgraduate studio practice papers, fine art theory and research, and a special topic.

Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (visual and material culture)

The Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (visual and material culture) is a stimulating introduction to advanced study in this rapidly developing field. The focus is on humanities-style critical reading and analysis, and the development of independent research skills.

The programme takes the equivalent of one year full-time and the mode of teaching makes it also suitable for part-time study.

Students must take three compulsory papers, taught in block mode:

studies in material culture
studies in visual culture
research report.
Students also select one elective paper which may be taken extramurally.

Postgraduate Diploma in Design

The Postgraduate Diploma in Design provides an opportunity for students across the design spectrum to upskill in creative practice, technologies and theory.

The diploma provides an introduction to postgraduate research processes and contemporary design theory and, when achieved at an appropriate level, gives students access to the Master of Design or Master of Fine Arts programmes. It caters for students in many design disciplines, including advertising, digital media, graphic design, illustration, fashion design, industrial design, spatial design and textile design.

The programme is identical to the final year of the Bachelor of Design (Honours), involving an in-depth research project, wide range of electives, and a compulsory ‘external focus’ paper focusing on entrepreneurship, exhibitions or writing about creative work. Most of the work is studio-based.

Master of Fine Arts, including the design MFA and the fine arts MFA

The gold standard in qualifications for practising designers and artists, and the only MFA outside North America to be officially recognised by the US National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

Equips designers and artists to produce original creative work that is research-driven, critically engaged, expertly realised and highly innovative. Can be awarded with endorsement in design or fine arts, or awarded without endorsement where the work is strongly trans-disciplinary. Two years full-time.

Master of Design

A design research qualification where students work to an external agenda and generate work with strong industry application. One year full-time equivalent. May be studied part-time.

Master of Art/Master of Philosophy in visual and material culture

A research qualification in the study of visual and material culture. For most students, the output is text-based. One to two years full-time equivalent. May be studied part-time.

Doctor of Philosophy

At the College of Creative Arts candidates for PhD are expected to produce a sustained piece of advanced research work in design, fine arts, visual and material culture or across disciplinary areas.

The doctoral thesis may either involve creative practice work with a substantial piece of academic writing (approx. 30,000 words), or a wholly written dissertation (80,000-100,000 words). The PhD requires a contribution to new knowledge throughout creative and written outputs.

The College of Creative Arts is currently only considering full-time applications and prefers candidates to have completed a MFA or its equivalent (MA).