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Review of the Fine Art curriculum at OCA

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Posted by JaneH on September 16th 2008
Jane Horton 32 posts	posted 3 Months ago Jane Horton Says... Hello. As Curriculum Director at OCA I am launching a review into the Fine Art Curriculum to see if there are any additional areas we should be commissioning, or indeed courses that are no longer relevant. For instance there have been several suggestions that we develop an illustration course. Do any of you have views about what course areas you would like to see added, especially in the area of design and visual communication?

folio 499 posts	posted 3 Months ago folio Says... Hi Jane This may not be what you had in mind, but in my view the Painting courses need to be updated. The "recommended reading" needs to be revised and expanded, some out of print or not-useful books could be thrown out and replaced with up-to-date publications. I'd also like to see revisions to the artists recommended for study for the theoretical studies, the list includes few or no contemporary painters and no contemporary theory. This is a real problem in the higher level courses. Mary

Jane Horton 32 posts	posted 3 Months ago Jane Horton Says... Thanks Mary, that's helpful. Yes, I will be working my way through ALL the art courses, refreshing and updating them so your comments are helpful. In some cases there will be new commissions of existing courses, or additions to the portfolio. For instance several people have asked for an illustration course so this is something we are currently investigating. Some courses need more drastic reviews than others! I want to do a good job so it will take time to work through them all.

peterjh 420 posts	posted 3 Months ago peterjh Says... Allreading lists; or the lack of them; need looking at and hints and guidance on learning journals (Log Books) need to be included with all courses not just the few higher level ones that have them at the moment. Digital courses need to be brought in line with current knowledge and practice and made relevant to up to date hardware and hardware standards. AoP needs to be made clearly suitable to digital only photographers (one of the assignments currently requires the student to use transparency fill for example) If I tDP assignment 2 is to remain the same, much more colour theory needs to be included in the preamble. Clear and consistent guidelines as to the level of contact between assignments that a student can expect and a tutor is required to give (pay scales may need to be revisited here)

sarahhcfe 30 posts	posted 3 Months ago sarahhcfe Says... Jane I had a dialogue with Gareth some time ago about suggested ideas for the extension of the textile courses, which now currently come under the Fine Arts section. Having completed level 1, I felt that I was unable to (a) fully explore different aspects of this course as there was just so much there, and (b) would not be able to complete a full degree from textile courses alone. The addition of a second level 3 course was very welcome and gives me something further to aim for but I feel that there could be more courses in the textile area which could be developed to give a full suite of textile courses. I think the current level 1 course is a wonderful introduction to a range of textiles and would like to see that one remain, but would like I suggest the following which would enable the student to develop more advanced skills in a particular area such as textiles 2 which concentrates on dyeing : a) Woven/constructed textiles/tapestry b) Pieced textiles (patchwork/quilting) c) Stitched textiles (hand/machine) d) Theoretical course on the history of textiles/fashion e) Mixed media development f) Knitted/felted textiles g) Pattern making / clothing design Obviously these could be combined into single courses where these ideas are related. Sarah

sandybarrow 1 post	posted 2 Months ago sandybarrow Says... I'm not an OCA student yet, but I am planning on doing the drawing course once I have enough money to pay for it! I think that an Illustration course would be excellent, or graphic design. Animation would be great too - I love experimenting with different things and I am unsure at the moment where I would progress to after a drawing course as painting isn't my strong point, so Illustration would be wonderful. Have you made any decisions yet about what new courses you might offer?

Dawn Finneran 66 posts	posted 1 Month ago Dawn Finneran Says... Hi Jane, Folio picked up a post I wrote in Drawing 1 and suggested I contacted you... In the new Drawing folder there are two assignments, at the end of each assignment it says... "Now mark your name and student number on the back of the drawings and send to your tutor, together with your logbook notes and sketchbook pages or....." My tutor sent a note when I did this saying he only needs to see the drawings and not the logbook or sketchbook as this is for accreditation. Therefore the wording needs to be changed to drawings only. I hope this helps. Dawn

roderickarj 7 posts	posted 1 Month ago roderickarj Says... I too would be interested in courses in Illustration and also Graphic Design.

Nadine 9 posts	posted 1 Month ago Nadine Says... I would be interested in a Graphic Design course.

alfie1 1 post	posted 1 Month ago alfie1 Says... is there a reduction in fees for people receiving incapacity benefit?

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