Master Program in Fine Art 2025, 120 credits

The academy is beautifully located on the riverbank of Umeå river at the Arts Campus together with Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå School of Architecture, Bildmuseet (Umeå’s contemporary art museum), and UmArts (center for artistic research). The academy is close to the city center and to nature. From a cultural standpoint the city has a lot to offer. There is Norrlandsoperan, which houses the White Cube arts space, contemporary dance, the symphony orchestra and more. We have Väven, home to the art gallery, the Museum of Women’s History, a theatre stage for music and performance, Folkets Bio (cinema) and a library. Gallery Verkligheten, is an active artist run space, close to the academy both geographically and conceptually. There are the festivals; Littfest, a festival for contemporary literature, the film festival, House of Metal, an indoor festival for metal music, and the Jazz Festival, among others.

The Master program in Fine Art is a two-year education for students who aspire to work as artists in a national and international context. The students in the program will meet international, as well as national, guest teachers and artistic researchers. In 2024 the following artists and researchers visited the Academy:

• Elia Nurvista International guest teacher
• Annika Elisabeth von Hausswolff, opponent at the Master exhibition at the Bildmuseet.
• Emily Fahlén, Lina Selander, Kirsten Pieroth and Imri Sandström, were guest teachers
• Francois Bucher held a workshop and offered studio talks for all students
• Paul McDevitt gave a workshop. 
• Dr Vera Mey took part in the Master’s crits

Workshops open for all students: 

• Gerd Tinglum (painting)
• Cecilia Jansson (sculpture)
• Eva Marie Lindahl (drawing)
• Margus Meinart (painting)
• Gustaf Broms (performance)
• Margaux Schwab and Grace Gloria Denis

Research seminars:

• Magnus Bärtås held a seminar
• Malin Arnell presented her work
• Per Nilsson presented his work in a three-part seminar

The academy organized a conference on the future of artistic research education:

Balázs Kicsiny and Stefan Valdemar Snaevarr held keynote lectures. Lisa Nyberg, Malin Arnell and Edith Marie Pasquier presented their experiences from three different PhD educations from three different countries. 

Image: Peter Stridsberg

In our master program teaching is led by artists as well as researchers in fine art. At the academy we have two teachers who hold PhD's in Fine Art, one postdoc with a PhD in Fine Art and one Docent in Philosophy, focusing on the Philosophies of Art, who is also the Head of Department. The academy is well equipped when it comes to connect the master’s program to contemporary artistic research.

In the first master year, students are offered to join a study trip on contemporary art.  In 2024, they visited the Venice Biennale. The academy funds the student’s travel and the students the accommodation.

Image: Peter Stridsberg

Master students have their own studio during the program. The academy provides a manifold of workshops where students can work with physical projects under guidance of our skilled staff. There are, among others, wood, metal, plaster, ceramics, photography/moving image, sound and print workshops. There is also a foundry workshop where castings are made both in aluminum and bronze. There is a painting studio, rooms for video/sound work and a monumental studio, for students who work with large artistic projects. 

The two master years are divided into a series of courses; Art in Today’s Society, Artistic Processes and Research Methods, Art History and Art Theory connected to practical curatorial work and the course Individual Artistic Work. The course Individual Artistic Work runs through the whole program and the other courses are studied parallel to this course. 

The individual artistic project is developed and discussed individually as well as in smaller groups in supervised studio talks. Seminars are held where each student presents their work and actively participates in the discussions with fellow students. More formal are the Crits when invited artists act as opponents and take part in the discussion of the work in question.
There is a demand on the student, together with the supervisor, to plan the development of content and work procedure of their individual artwork.Voluntary workshops are open for all students, to complement the program. The program ends with the final exhibition and presentation of the individual exam work. This work is divided into two parts; one or more artworks are exhibited in a group exhibition at Bildmuseet, which is held over the summer, and the second part, is a text where the students reflect on their own artistic practice and how their work relates to contemporary art theory and practice. 

Image: Robert Djärv

Umeå Academy of Fine Art provides the only higher program in fine art north of Stockholm, and because of its geographical position the academy can provide the students with possibilities they cannot find elsewhere in Sweden. The development of the northern artistic field we see today within the Arctic region, disqualifies the use of the term “periphery” as a description of the academy’s geographical positioning. Through strengthening the arctic region artistically, the local, national and international perspectives are also strengthened. These are now perspectives that influences the northern space in which Umeå Academy of Fine Art is located. Northern Sweden with its transgressive cooperations is a growing center for contemporary art focusing on the Arctic. The Arctic we seek cooperation with include Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The Academy therefore is turning North. We have developed cooperations with many institutions in the Arctic region, institutions that the students can benefit from. 

We are proud of our academy and therefore we invite you to apply to our Master Program in Fine Art. Application open the 20th of January and closes the 3rd of March.

WARMLY WELCOME