Bachelor BEAR Fine Art
Arnhem, Netherlands
Bachelor's degree
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Why BEAR Fine Art?
You enter a community for life
As a community working with and through art, we collectively push the boundaries of creative possibilities and experiment with the role of artists in society. The force of art lies in an unconditional belief in the power of imagination and experimentation, and in embracing and cultivating diverging perspectives. Art is a public sphere and a political force, it examines possibilities for and gives shape to a common world. Art does not exist in a vacuum, it is a living and breathing ecosystem in a dynamic relationship with society. Art is distinctive, it does not conform to prevailing ways of seeing and speaking, but investigates and reinvents these.
You are taught by experienced tutors
Education at BEAR is designed to prepare aspiring practitioners for the field of contemporary art, while leaving ample space for personal learning goals. We acknowledge the complexity of navigating today’s society, and the asymmetries in how individuals experience the world we share. Therefore, we commit ourselves to creating a learning environment where difference can thrive. At the same time, education must build a shared practice, a shared language around communal concerns and objects of study, which in our case is contemporary art. The formats of the education we offer reflect our vision on how individual and collective learning become mutually supportive.
You get your own studio and state-of-the-art facilities
First and foremost, learning happens through the process of making and artistic research. Students develop skills through material and conceptual experimentation. This primarily takes place in their studios and in the workshops of the academy, supported by workshop instructors, who offer specialised knowledge. Artistic research classes take place in the studios of the students, elsewhere in the academy, or outside, depending on what is needed to support students in developing their own set of research methods.
Ten principles of the programme
- The education at BEAR supports students in developing their individual toolkit of methodologies, skills and approaches for building an artistic practice.
- We create spaces where personally driven experimentation and a joint discourse interact, fostering collective learning. Students work and learn together in the Tutor Base.
- The context of our education is international contemporary artistic discourse. Students develop an awareness of this, as well as a diversity of artistic practices that escape the canon.
- Physical space and facilities for experimentation are essential for students’ development. Students have studios and access to the workshops of the academy, where they can explore all available materials, media and techniques and approaches.
- The programme introduces students to various positions in art history, cultural history, art theory, media theory and philosophy. They learn to speak and write about their work and that of others.
- We teach students to understand critical thinking and self-criticality as an act of care and as taking responsibility for the work we produce.
- BEAR is a community founded on exchange and the embracing of differences. We aim to create a learning environment in which students reflect on their work and position by sharing their artistic development and output with others.
- All tutors and teachers of the programme are practitioners in the field of contemporary art.
- We encourage students to push artistic boundaries and think beyond the self when relating their work to contemporary artistic practice.
- We give students a platform to experiment with exhibiting their work and test how it builds a relationship with the public.
Year 1: foundation to build
The first year of BEAR is designed to introduce students to the adventure of studying art. Guided by experienced practitioners from the field of contemporary art, it offers a space to experiment with materials and ideas. The programme offers a wide range of classes focussing on a particular medium or approach - each of these blends making and thinking in a particular way. Artistic or theoretical disciplines are never an end in itself, but a space to explore the possibilities they offer for artistic expression and development.
Another focus is an introduction to the professional field. This ranges from references brought in by teachers during classes, to theory courses and field trips. All activities of the first year are designed to lay the foundation for the next years to develop a process-driven way of working, which pairs the pleasure of making with a critical-reflective attitude.
Year 2: Advanced Experimentation
In BEAR 2, students move from assignment-driven to self- directed experimentation, to further develop the skills and approaches that were offered in BEAR 1. The various programme components are designed to support students in making choices and developing focus. This marks a shift in working and thinking that requires an ability to formulate questions or interests, and to take concrete steps to translate these into one’s working process. The structure of the year and the various components allow for a continuous movement between making, experimenting and reflecting, as well as between individual and collective projects.
Year 3: Specialising, articulation
The programme components of BEAR 3 aim to teach students how to develop and follow a more continuous line in their work. This involves articulating ideas and exploring what connects projects, through a more explicit reflection on the working process, the work and its actual or desired context. Compared to BEAR 2, students work under more indirect supervision by their tutor and other teachers. As part of Studio Practice and Research, as well as Practitioners, they are supported in making well-motivated choices in terms of projects they engage in, and identifying the skills and knowledge they need to develop to advance their practice. At this stage of their studies, they are expected to understand and embrace the open-endedness of artistic processes. They use this openness to challenge their own expectations. And when presenting work, they challenge the expectations of others as well.
Year 4: Building a practice
Building a practice as an artist is as much about attaining focus, acquiring skills and specialised knowledge, as it is about continuously cultivating a curiosity for the new. The guiding principle in BEAR 4 is to support students in developing a finished body of work for the graduation exhibition. At the same time, they are encouraged to engage in a thorough research process. In doing so, they learn to question their own work and their positioning. Studying in BEAR 4 means standing on a threshold: structuring a work process with academic rigour, while anticipating a world beyond.
The core of BEAR 4 is the individual work of the students, in which all lines of the programme come together. They learn to unpack, question and deepen their practice through a focused research trajectory. At the same time, they broaden and deepen their material knowledge and technical skills, following what the work needs. As BEAR 4 is the graduation year, students are trained in practical skills that are needed from a professional perspective, such as applying for funding and residencies, self-organising as artists, and starting a business.
Scholarships, grants and other financial support
There are different ways to get financial support during your studies in the Netherlands. For Dutch and EU/EEA students, this may include student finance from DUO or the lifelong learning credit. If you are an international student from outside the EU/EEA, DUO schemes usually do not apply, but you may qualify for scholarships, grants, or financial arrangements through ArtEZ and other organizations.
After studying BEAR Fine Art you can start working as a visual artist, filmmaker, photographer, curator, organizer or (art) critic. Your research skills, self-organising capacity, creative input and autonomous thinking will also be valuable in projects in which you collaborate with planners, architects or scientists, for example. In addition, you can choose to continue your studies in a national or international master course.
The fine art field of work is large and void of beaten tracks. During the programme, you will become thoroughly acquainted with the many possibilities in the field and choose your own direction within the (inter)national world of fine art. Many generations of artists have already found their way to a larger audience. Many of our alumni can be found in prominent places in art and society.