Explore Art and Design with the Experts

Art is as important as it has ever been, but the world has a renewed interest and respect for beautiful things in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. With a long heritage that stretches back over 150 years, the Bolton School of Arts has never stopped the promotion of fine arts and discovering the artists of the future.

With an Art and Design degree, we’ll help you to grow both as a person and an artist. A fine arts degree will see you unpick any preconceptions of what art might be and rebuild yourself as an artist, with the benefit of having developed a true understanding of the full range of practices.

An arts and design degree empowers you not only to absorb the world around you, learning and growing from both course leaders and the other students, but to develop your understanding for the foundations across many different disciplines so that it can inform the thinking and inspiration behind your own pieces.

Through an appreciation of the different fields, such as drawing and painting to sculpture and printing, you are able to challenge your own understanding. Not only can this result in your taking your own work in an entirely different direction, but it might empower you to develop something utterly new and dynamic that has never quite been done before.

Supportive and Dynamic

The arts and design teaching staff know exactly what they are talking about when it comes to art. That’s why we’re named as No. 1 in the North West for Satisfaction with Teaching and Feedback*. Not only will they help you to carve out your own niche within the art world but they will help you to transform through their input into your creative output, supporting your ambitions. However, the time that teaching staff spend helping you to develop your own skills comes from a place of experience and knowledge. Our staff are also practising artists and designers. They make and perform and they are both critics and critiqued. This means that they have, are and will be in the same position as you, with many of them having worked through their own creative stumbling blocks. They can give you practical advice about how to work through feedback. Fully appreciative of the ups and downs of the creative process, the generous staff-to-student ratios* mean that you will be able to develop a meaningful relationship with your course leader and use their support to develop your own inner artist.

Industry Insiders

As well as helping you to realise your full artistic potential, our teaching staff can take you through the full range of opportunities for art and design graduates.

While some graduate will practise pure art in their careers, a great many will use their art and design within their future roles. These roles can range from an art in the community worker or arts therapist to advertising campaign manager or even a fashion buyer. The school has superb industry links with several art-related industries, but they also have a strong network of connections with professional organisations, such as Arts Council England, and will help you to understand how arts funding works in the real-world.  Through the school’s links, you can also develop your own relationship with organisations and venues in the North West and Greater Manchester, including Bolton Art Gallery and Museum, Open Eye Gallery, Redeye and HOME, where you can source placement opportunities.

Art and Design for All

At Bolton School of the Arts, we’re most interested in your creative ability, your passion and your desire to create art in the world. We welcome students from all backgrounds and we believe that an inclusive and multicultural campus creates a friendly and vibrant environment for you to develop and grow. Ranked 1st in England for Social Inclusion**, you’ll be able to realise your full potential within a supportive and nurturing creative community where everyone has a part to play. 

Research our courses here.

* Guardian University Guide 2022

** The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021