Master of Arts in Fine Arts with one of three possible Majors Socially engaged – with an assured artistic profile – and up to date on art education

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Learning to apply specialised art skills to everyday spheres or to museum contexts and arts education programmes, specifically those at baccalaureate (GCSE “A”) level, is the aim of this training programme. The core of the Master of Arts in Fine Arts is to bring commitment and informed practice to individuals’ work with images, spaces, social situations, and the creation of public spheres, in cross-media practices. Students on the Master of Arts in Fine Arts programme learn to respond with precision, clarity and competence to conditions in society today, and to intervene in them by means of innovative projects and activities.

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It leaves room for experimental approaches, for artistic and aesthetic analytical research, and for acquisition of the solid skills required for a career in the arts and creative industries. Independent study is supported and supplemented moreover by the continuous and comprehensive guidance offered students individually by experienced well-known artists, art teachers and cultural studies lecturers; and likewise by close interaction with the Art, Design & Public Spheres Research Group of the Lucerne School of Art and Design, with the degree programme’s international partner institutions, and with the Lucerne University of Teacher Education, Colloquia, group discussions and symposia likewise foster intensive exchange and discourse between lecturers, mentors, and students here, as well as with Master’s students at other schools, and experts in the national and international art worlds.

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A Master’s that offers three different Majors with a common focus on socially relevant art production but in the distinct fields of Art in Public Spheres and Critical Image Practices is unique in Switzerland. The students on each Major have to prepare themselves for specific practices in their respective professional fields yet the opportunities here for intensive and dynamic exchange on topics such as art theory, artistic practice, and the teaching of artistic, educational and curatorial skills assure them a distinct advantage. Students taking the Major Art Teaching benefit from a curriculum that leaves room both for ambitious artistic practice and in-depth insights into theoretical positions, and they thus acquire the diverse skills required for an artistically informed and practice-based career teaching art in schools. Students taking the Major Art in Public Spheres or in Image Practices, by contrast, must continually confront the issues arising from cooperation and communication with diverse partners and target groups in the framework of artistic and art-activist projects, which play a pivotal role in specific public spheres and in critical visual practices in cross- media practices.

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Whether the work of an individual or a team, student projects for the Master of Arts in Fine Arts programme must be carefully devised, from the concept to the theoretical basis to the detailed plans for realisation. Intensive exchange with lecturers and fellow students is an important part of our programme. It is fostered by numerous colloquia and group discussions, by the students’ proximity to one another in their allocated studio spaces, and by the annual nomination of a specific topic or site in Central Switzerland to which each student that year must make reference in their Master’s thesis.

The involvement of numerous experts

Experienced well-known artists and art teachers give guidance on art projects to all students, and serve as personal mentors to MAT students who are in preparation for teaching practice. The exhaustive activities of the Art, Design & Public Spheres Research Group of the Lucerne School of Art and Design guarantees direct knowledge transfer, from research and theory to practice. Regular Guest Professorships in Art Theory and Cultural Studies analyse students’ projects in light of diverse professional contexts. Events such as “Master’s Input” and “Master’s Dialogue” in Lucerne bring together international experts from the worlds of art, art education and art theory. Students benefit furthermore from cooperative ventures with such important institutional forums for art education and outreach as the Kunstmuseum Luzern, La Kunsthalle Mulhouse, the Lucerne School of Music, the École cantonale d’art du Valais (ECAV) in Sierre for the ACT performance series, the Education in the Arts Department of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and HEAD Geneva. A pilot cooperative venture with the Art in Public Spheres Research Department at Lucerne University of the Applied Arts and Sciences enabled graduates to take up, among other things, a pre-PhD programme in the autumn semester 2016/17.

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A different one is selected each year as the set theme of the annual degree show. Students are free to decide on the format of their Master’s thesis: it may take the form of an art project or an art education concept. The shifting focus on topics, regions and locations in Central Switzerland affords the artists and art teachers in training ample opportunities to examine the rich variety of rural, suburban and urban contexts to be found clustered in this agglomeration. The degree show themes and locations in recent years were as follows: 2019 «Sichtwechsel» Papieri Cham; 2018, “onstansstad.ch” in Stansstad (NW); 2017, “tell me” in Altdorf (UR); 2016, “WIR SIND DA” in Emmen (LU); 2015, “Punktlandung Ausserschwyz” in Pfäffikon (Freienbach) and Lachen (Schwyz); 2014, “Zwischenhalt Luzern” in Lucerne; 2013, “Manöver Sarnen” (OW); 2012, “Fokus Zug” (ZG) in Zug; and 2011, the “Master Kunst Tour” in Littau-Reussbühl (LU).
Visit our archive of degree show projects.

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The Master of Arts in Fine Arts at Lucerne University sets great store by artistic projects and refinement of a signature style – be it that of a sole author or of a collective – both on its MAT and MAPS programme. The focus is on each student’s own artistic trajectory, which is developed from the first semester through to the final degree show project, through exchange with fellow students and under the guidance of mentors. The guiding principle here is “learning by doing”, so students also take part in art competitions such as “Kunst am Bau Wettbewerb Limmattal”, “Stollology” Theater Luzern, KunsthochLuzern, Sihlcity or Intervenire Muri; and they also organise exhibitions of their own: on a set location, as in “Beyond the timberline” (2012); educational in nature, as in “La Kunsthalle Mulhouse” (2015); interdisciplinary, as in “Und weg mit den Minuten” at Kunsthaus Zug (2014); or interactive, as in the ACT performance in public space events. In addition they complete practice-specific modules and work placements (internships), in preparation for their future career.  Reflection on current discourse in seminars, events such as “Master’s Input” and “Master’s Dialogues”, and lectures by international experts in relevant fields of the arts, public life and art education supplement this practice-oriented training.

Graduates of the Major Art in Public Spheres (MAPS) or in Image Practices (MIP) programmes are qualified to realise art projects in image based media as well as site-specific interventions in public space or institutional frameworks – in artist-run spaces and artists’ projects, for example, or in cooperation with public or private institutions, with urban planners, neighbourhood initiatives and/or architects’ offices, either independently or as commissioned work on behalf of institutions. A primary goal is to equip students to introduce artistic practice into long-term cooperative ventures in diverse professional fields by honing their curatorial and art education skills. Thanks to the combination of art projects, practice-specific art education modules and work placements (internships), graduates of the Major Art in Public Spheres (MAPS) or in Image Practices (MIP) are qualified to teach art to baccalaureate (GCSE “A”) level or take up other positions in art education or  cultural studies. Their approach to teaching –informed by practice and participatory – is a form of artistic intervention in a public institution dedicated to art education.

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