In the lead up to our 2025 Graduate Shows, we’re celebrating the creativity and talent of our graduating students by sharing their stories and showcasing their incredible work. We spoke with Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) student Laurence Tidy about the course, their influences and advice to their younger self. Read More
In the lead up to our 2025 Graduate Shows, we’re celebrating the creativity and talent of our graduating students by sharing their stories and showcasing their incredible work. We spoke with Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) student Ellie Sargant about the course, their influences and advice to their younger self. Read More
In the lead up to our 2025 Graduate Shows, we’re celebrating the creativity and talent of our graduating students by sharing their stories and showcasing their incredible work. We spoke with Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) student Catherine Glass about the course, their influences and advice to their younger self. Read More
In the lead up to our 2025 Graduate Shows, we’re celebrating the creativity and talent of our graduating students by sharing their stories and showcasing their incredible work. We spoke with Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) student Ross Borton about the course, his influences and advice to his younger self.
If you’re in year 12 or your first year of 6th form college, you have the chance to try out what it’s like to study at university at one of our summer schools.
We are offering residential and online summer schools, and all are free to attend. Read More
Artist Toby Rainbird has been awarded the prestigious Freelands Studio Fellowship with a 12-month residency at the University of Brighton.
Funded by the Freelands Foundation, the scheme is designed to support emerging artists in developing their practice within a university setting. It was launched in 2021 as a painting fellowship and expanded in 2023 to cover wider studio practice. Read More
Brighton ranks 34th on Time Out’s 2025 list of the world’s 50 best cities, making it the third-highest ranked city in the UK.
The definitive annual list is published every year, based on feedback from tens of thousands of city-dwellers across the globe. This year, over 18,000 participants shared their thoughts on key aspects of city life such as food, nightlife, culture, affordability, happiness, and overall atmosphere.
A PhD scholarship focused on trans and non-binary inclusion has been launched by the University of Brighton in collaboration with The Paul Cottingham Trust.
At Brighton, we pride ourselves on offering Fine Art courses that encourage our students to experiment, think critically, collaborate with their peers and take creative risks. With access to specialist studios, our wonderful team of expert tutors and a vibrant art scene, studying at Brighton is the perfect place to bring your artistic visions to life.
Read on to discover 10 of our top reasons to choose Brighton for your Fine Arts degree… Read More
At the University of Brighton, we’re here to support you in making the best start to your university journey. With our new postcode checker, you can quickly see if you’re eligible for our Brighton Boost financial support package, designed to help you with the cost of living and make everyday things just that little bit easier. Read More
As we wrap up 2024, we want to take a moment to reflect on the past year’s achievements, milestones and stories that have shaped the year here at the University of Brighton.
There’s so much to celebrate – we’ve seen groundbreaking research, community impact and inspiring student success across every area of the university. Read More
Are you considering studying art or design at University? Whatever course sparks your interest, we have several portfolio advice sessions coming up to give you tips on creating a portfolio that will stand out and showcase your creativity and skills. Read More
Three Summer Shows presents student talent in art, design, media, architecture and humanities Read More
“Having a studio space to develop and play out ideas has been fantastic. A zone designated solely for creativity where I can experiment freely, alongside discussion with tutors about what is happening and why within my painting has helped me grow rapidly as an artist, and more importantly searched inside myself for my own truth.”
“I’ve really valued having tutors who are working artists and I think that is so informative. As a young artist, it’s encouraging to see that it’s possible to have a fulfilling career in the art industry.” Read More
“I chose Fine Art Painting as there aren’t many painting courses in the country… I’ve loved having a dedicated working space for myself.”
“A space to make work has been undoubtedly the most valuable part of the course for me… and also James Kearns, the painting technician. I can’t say enough really. He has made my time on the course.”
As her show opens at Tiwani Contemporary Gallery in central London, read an interview with painter Miranda Forrester in FAD Magazine.
Jake Grewal graduated from our Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) and went on to the Royal College – he’s now got his first solo institutional exhibition at Pallant House Gallery. In a longform interview with Studio International, he says “I don’t know where I make work from other than my experience and emotional response.”
Three Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) students are showing their work in an exhibition at Gallery 40 in Brighton’s city centre 19th – 22nd July.
“The specificity is the reason I chose this course over my other choices, and it was one of the best choices I have ever made.” Read More
“I don’t want it to stop but endings bloom into new beginnings and I’m excited about the future.” Read More
“The studio environment and the discussions that I have had with fellow painters on the course has been a significantly enjoyable part of the course.” Read More
“This course is perfect if you want to pursue your artistic expression whilst having no limits. I chose it because I knew I had enough passion and curiosity to carve my own path.”
“I chose my course (Fine Art: Painting) as it is a specialised course that priorities studio-based art making. Before coming to university, I knew I wanted to paint, so I needed time and space to be fully submerged in my practice.” Read More
If you are in Year 12 and interesting in art, design, fashion and textiles this is you chance to get involved and see if you’d like to study your passion at degree level. Read More
Check out Fine Art Painting student Becky Powney’s TikTok on creating a portfolio.
Join us at our online portfolio advice event on 28 February to get tips and advice from students and staff about how to prepare your portfolio.
You can also watch our film to see staff explain what you should include in your portfolio for art and design courses when applying for uni – and students give TIPS on what they included in theirs.
The win for Morag, who graduated from her Fine Art Painting degree in 2019, means that alumni from the University of Brighton course hold both the current Portrait Artist of the Year and the Landscape Artist of the Year following Elisha Enfield’s win of that title earlier this year. Read More
The influential style magazine focuses on the work of painter Sola Olulode who graduated from our Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) in 2018 and is enjoying success in the UK and abroad. Read More
Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) graduate Sola Olulode has been named as one of 10 artists to watch at this year’s Contemporary African Art Fair in London.
The University of Brighton is one of three universities in the UK to have a ‘Painting Fellow’ on campus – here we hear from current fellow Daniel Petitt on his experience of working with our painting students and developing his practice in the studio on campus.
A new exhibition of work (open until 15 October) by little-known painter Lynch at the Brighton Centre for Contemporary Arts, based at the University of Brighton’s Grand Parade building, has been given a rave review by the Guardian. Read More
University of Brighton art graduate Miranda Forrester is combining designing fabrics for Soho House’s new Brighton outpost with international painting success. Read More
The studios are an open and friendly place, and once people get to know each other more and everyone comes out of their shells a little (especially after lockdown) you won’t want to leave. Read More
Lydia Stonehouse and Megan Hack have won the annual prize which helps graduates kick-start their artistic career with free studio space in central Brighton.
“My professors, great artists as well, have been very supportive and dedicated to their students. Particularly, their tolerant attitudes towards my works have contributed to my achievement.” Read More
“Moving to Brighton has been an invaluable experience by placing me in a hub of creative people as well as the sea, the South Downs and the coastline as a constant inspiration for my practice.” Read More
“I have loved the course so much – it couldn’t have been a better fit for me! It’s been the perfect mix of theoretical discussion and practical exploration around the vast and yet specific subject of contemporary painting.”
“The tutors have always been welcoming and have definitely been a key part in the development of my work. Being in an environment which encourages you to explore and try out different mediums and ideas has allowed me to mould my practice into something which I am really proud of.”
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“The fine art painting course at Brighton has been a great opportunity to develop my practice, meeting many painters and artists that have expanded my ideas and thoughts about painting. Brighton has been an exciting city to live in, with a strong community of artistic people.”
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Elisha Enfield graduated from Fine Art Painting in 2011. For the final show she undertook a £10,000 commission of the Rochdale Canal. Read More
Want to win a FREE studio space for a year in central Brighton? School of Art and Media final year students have the opportunity to apply for this award which sees Cass Art sponsoring a Phoenix Art Space studio for a 2023 graduate. Read More
Phil Tyler, Printmaking BA(Hons) course leader, Sara Lavelle, Illustration BA(Hons) graduate, and Morag Kaister, Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) graduate are all in the Portrait Artist of the year show at Compton Verney which opened last weekend.
To celebrate the partnership between Cass Art, Phoenix Art Space and University of Brighton, Phoenix presents a group exhibition of all six recipients of the Cass Art x Phoenix Studio Award. Read More
Somaya’s work has been picked in the newspaper’s ‘The T List’s Five Things We Recommend This Week’ section.
Watch these two short films where art students talk you through how they put theirs together. Read More
“The second I stepped foot into the studios I knew this is where I wanted to be. I fell in love completely with the course, the studios, the general feeling of the University and Brighton too. It ticked every box.”
“Working from home during the pandemic was difficult, but I felt inspired by new-found intimacies and sensations of confinement. Tutors and technincians remained committed and dedicated and I was motivated to work diligently by my talented peers. My experience at Brighton wouldn’t have been the same without my incredible coursemates, whose smiling faces I look forward to seeing every day!”
“Brighton is such a lively city full of fun, kind, crazy people. The course has the same atmosphere and it’s been a great environment to develop my practice, bouncing ideas off of like-minded creatives and some really inspiring tutors.”
“My time in Brighton has been a complete rollercoaster but I would not change a thing! I wanted to come here because my country is extremely homophobic, so I wanted to be in a space completely different from that.”
“Painting connects me to the present and allows me to fully express myself, so a course in it was a no-brainer. I looked around a lot of places, but Brighton Uni had a uniquely homely quality about it. The studios are spacious yet intimate and I remember seeing it for the first time and feeling very comfortable”
“The university has offered me so much, not only through the tutoring I have received, but also in the opportunities it has exposed me to, alongside meeting other incredible artists I share a course with. Brighton really has shown me what can be done with painting and how open for exploration the practice truly is.”
“To be surrounded by so many talented artists of all disciplines, inspires me every day. When work can seem difficult, it is wonderful to remind myself how lucky I am to be doing what I love and painting for my degree.”
Our art and media students always tell us our technicians are brilliant – and they’ve been rightly recognised in the One Brighton Staff Awards, winning the Team Contribution to Teaching and Learning award. Congratulations!
Will, a video installation artist, will be teaching on Brighton’s Fine Art Painting BA(Hons).
Our fabulous Fine Art Painting BA(Hons) has a new Instagram feed – follow them for images of student work, studio shots, student takeovers and events and exhibitions news. Read More
Pippa El-Kadhi Brown, a graduate of BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting, has won the overall Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize 2020 – one of the world’s most coveted awards for up and coming artists. Read More
My work is done based on memories from trips on the road in my country of origin Peru and later here in Europe, been the motorway the conduit to these imaginary landscapes of escapism and to my work.
My practice focuses on depicting a more accurate representation of the female form.
My paintings orbit around ideas of absence, separation and secrecy.
“The central subject of my practice is the process of women empowerment in the context of contemporary society.” Read More
My painting practice engages with the language of Contemporary Abstraction. While reflecting upon its relationship to earlier movements in its history, I want to question the status of an abstract painting today through the legacy of formalism in contemporary art. Read More
During lockdown Fine Art Painting student George Coll has been selling prints of her abstract works with all proceeds going to NHS Charities Together. Read More
Qualified for the Future (May 2020) demonstrates the tangible benefits of skills developed in the arts, humanities and social sciences to the UK workforce, economy and society, not only now but in the future.
We have put together the most frequently asked questions from our recent School of Art online Q&A. Read More
The School of Art has donated all of its existing personal protective equipment (PPE) to help social care workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
Sola, who graduated in 2018 and was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Art Prize 2018, has an exhibition ‘Where the Ocean Meets the Beach. Read More
Miranda, 2019 Fine Art Painting graduate has been selected to exhibit her work in FBA Futures 2020, the annual survey of contemporary figurative art being produced in UK art schools. Read More
University graduate Miranda Forrester has been selected to exhibit her work in FBA Futures 2020, the annual survey of contemporary figurative art being produced in UK art schools. Read More
Since graduating in 2018 artist Conor White has followed his dreams through to the Royal Academy. Here he tells us how. Read More
A University of Brighton graduate who won a world-renowned art award has reflected on his “whirlwind” week – and said he can’t wait to get back into his studio. Read More
My practice has become an ecosystem: ‘A community of living organisms where components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flow’. Pigments, ground, structures, content, marks and meaning are interconnected and open to change.
Painting graduate Charlie Schaffer was last night announced as the winner of 2019 BP Portrait Award. Read More
My work has always focused on materials and their properties and tend be categorized as a midpoint between painting and sculpture. Read More
“My artistic practice is centred on revealing the invisible technological environment that we are in and surrounded by.”
My work explores the relationship between the artist and the muse, and how the female gaze can manifest itself in figurative painting. Read More
A current Fine Art Painting student and two graduates are displaying their work in an exhibition at the prestigious Delphian Gallery in London. Read More
Find Art Painting alumnus Charlie Schaffer wins the Brian Botting Prize for the third time in the prize’s four year history.
Watch lecturer Chris Stevens and 2nd year Fine Art Painting and Printmaking students discuss work currently being exhibited in Hove Museum. Read More
Recent graduate Sara Lavelle is through to the next round of the TV painting competition. Read More
Edward Liddle, who received a First in Fine Art Painting from the University of Brighton, is showing his Carrement! exhibition at the prestigious Centrale for Contemporary Art in Brussels. Read More
Painting graduate Felicity Meacham has been placed second in a national art competition for graduates. Read More
Work hard, follow your passion and “be fabulous – just like me” was the advice given to University of Brighton graduates. Read More
Lecturer Tom Hammick, who teaches on BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting, joins Peter Blake, Jeremy Deller, Mona Hartoum, Chris Orr, Elizabeth Magill and David Mach as one of the seven artists chosen to celebrate the NHS at 70. Read More
My work explores an abstracted visual language where creature-like forms dominate the space, while evoking an other worldly presence. Read More
Heraldic materials are significant to my work; I draw visual imagery from anthropological collections such as the Pitt River Museum in Oxford. Read More
“I am an emotional painter. A male painter trying to grasp at his insecurities, question the world around him and confess his emotional break the stigmatic world of toxic masculinity. ” Read More
Inside the amazing twisted TV world of the work of Fine Art Painting student William Harman. Read More
The University of Brighton’s BA Fine Art Painting blog is now live!
Elizabeth McCarten who graduated Fine Art Painting in 2012 has won the Jacksons Young Artist Award in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017. Read More
Oriele Steiner, who graduated in 2015, has been given a year-long free studio by Bloomberg New Contemporaries at The Royal Standard, Liverpool, where she will continue developing her painting and drawing practice. Read More
Olivia Carter Hopkins explains her approach to work and discusses her course in an interview with the fashion and music magazine. Read More
” The initial idea of these works comes from the notion of ‘space’.” Read More
“My work discusses the current issues of mental and sexual health within the LGBT+ community – particularity gay men – whilst alluding to the fashionable aesthetic of art today.” Read More
“Throughout my three years at The University of Brighton the influence of my surroundings have always been a strong subject linked with my work.” Read More