Expand+What is this course about?
Sculpture and Combined Media (SCM) is a vibrant, fresh, professional and experimental course suited to ambitious individuals willing to be challenged. It offers students the opportunity to develop and experiment using scul...

Hide-What is this course about?
Sculpture and Combined Media (SCM) is a vibrant, fresh, professional and experimental course suited to ambitious individuals willing to be challenged. It offers students the opportunity to develop and experiment using sculptural techniques and media. Individual studio practice is developed through taught workshops in sculpture techniques combined with a range of studio based multi-media experimentation. Students develop a strong sculptural skill-set, but also become expert within the broader field of cultural production such as curation, public art, commissions, exhibition and cultural event planning, professional promotion and developing education workshops. The course is structured to respond to the changing nature of cultural production and incorporates the use and understanding of new media and materials such as video, performance art, public art, internet-based media, installation, sound art and photography.

The course prepares students to be independent, critical and to develop strong training in sustaining a practice in the social and cultural domain. A major strength is that the course always considers the public and audience. It instils in the student the importance and an awareness of research, presentation, proposal writing and documentation of practice – which is invaluable as a professional artist. Public commissions are a significant aspect of this course, where students work actively on large-scale public art commissions with bodies such as the Limerick Civic Trust and the Emergency Services and on large scale cultural productions such as the collaboration with Fuerza Bruta, the Argentinian physical theatre event for City of Culture. The course also encourages students to look at how other traditional media such as film, theatre, dance and music relate to contemporary sculptural practice.

Expand+What will I study?
Year 2: Focuses on building skills through student selected sculpture processes such as: photography dark room/printing analogue B/W, metalworking/welding (elective), plaster resin casting/mould making (elective), digital sound ar...

Hide-What will I study?
Year 2: Focuses on building skills through student selected sculpture processes such as: photography dark room/printing analogue B/W, metalworking/welding (elective), plaster resin casting/mould making (elective), digital sound art (elective), material and processes - wood construction (elective). In addition, workshops are run in armature making, large scale multi material drawing, tool making, statement writing, 3D printing, drawing, inflatable sculpture and peer-to-peer workshops, digital image formatting and studio management.

Year 3: Focuses on sculpture processes such as: Video editing/production, Video and Installation Art, Video Mapping, Stop-Motion Animation and Blue Screen Video Production. Public performance (elective) and collaborative practice. Additional skills in medium/large format photography (elective) are offered. Studio practice explores sources of art research and group tutorials concentrate on studio themes of public art, installation art, live art, professional practice, environmental art, stop motion animation, new media interventions, performance art. This year offers internship/work experience, and student exhibitions/professional practice. This year European Erasmus exchange (optional), takes place as well as field trips/gallery visits.

In year 3, all students will undertake a 30 credit placement in the second semester.

Year 4: This is the degree year and is concentrated on expanding students’ self-directed themes and their own sculpture practice, through a series of workshops and seminars on: installation and presentation methods, methods of engaging with an audience and professional practice. This culminates with degree show production and display.

Expand+What can I do after this course?
This course with its huge emphasis on visual art professional practice, public performance, museum and education workshops, internships and curation as well as on traditional sculptural skill-sets, equips students to...

Hide-What can I do after this course?
This course with its huge emphasis on visual art professional practice, public performance, museum and education workshops, internships and curation as well as on traditional sculptural skill-sets, equips students to work fluidly and fluently in a variety of sculptural, educational, curatorial, public and performative contexts. Alumni are found working as practicing visual artists’, in film and television, theatre set design, government administration, local cultural development, script writers, contemporary sound/interdisciplinary artists, art educationalists, teachers, researchers, and museum curators, multi-media industry, music production, occupational therapy, script writing, dance, arts administration and the commercial art business such as Sothebys.