The Glasgow School of Art Studio Art Programme for Study Abroad Students (SASAP)

The Glasgow School of Art was founded in 1845 and is one of the few remaining art schools in the UK.  The Glasgow School of Art is located in the city centre of Glasgow.  At the heart of the campus is the Mackintosh building, one of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century.  Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of modern history’s most influential designers and GSA Alumnus designed the building.  The school has a long history of producing innovative, creative and successful artists, designers and architects.

Courses Available

As a student on the study abroad programme at the University of Glasgow, you have the opportunity to take one or two classes with the Glasgow School of Art in the following:

Black & White Photography

The Photography course will instruct students in the use of the camera and its primary functions, covering camera handling, exposure control, developing, contact printing and enlarging.  The curriculum also places emphasis on the awareness of the full range of possibilities offered at every stage of the creative process; from the initial intention or idea, contact with the subject and the photographic technology, the darkroom techniques, until finally culminating in the presentation of artwork.

Rendering the Human Form – Drawing Into Painting

This course will provide students with the basic knowledge, understanding and confidence required to draw and paint the human form.  Students will be introduced to the core skills and practices necessary to render a nude figure.  The course will enable students to render three-dimensionality and also provide a platform from which the students’ personal awareness and interpretation of the visual environment can be developed.

Figurative Sculpture 

This course will provide students with the opportunity to work three-dimensionally from the human figure in clay.  Sculpting directly in clay students will develop their observational skills, ability to handle clay and senses of proportion and form.  Students will build and model clay so that completed pieces can be kiln fired, after which they will learn how to finish their sculptures using a variety of techniques and materials.

Organisation of Study

An integral part of these courses is the researching and development of ideas and techniques relating to the subject through independent sketchbook work, which will extend students’ practice out-with studio hours.  Students will also be encouraged to broaden their awareness and knowledge of both traditional and contemporary art practices.  This will enable students to place their work within a broader context and assist the development of their own practice as an artist.

The courses are conducted by means of practical studio and workshop sessions, complemented by seminars, critiques and tutorials.

Evaluation, Credits and Timetable

Assessment of students’ work takes lace regularly throughout the course on an informal basis and twice during the course on a formal basis.  Assessments take the form of individual tutorials and group reviews.

After the final assessment students will be issued with a letter-band grade in accordance with the University of Glasgow Study Abroad guidelines.  The grade will indicate the level of students’ performance and the work made during the course. 

Students will receive 10 scotcat (University of Glasgow) credits which is approximately equivalent to 2.5 US credits.

Classes usually run either Wednesday morning (3 hours) or Wednesday afternoon (3 hours).  For students taking two classes, this would usually entail a full day of classes at the Glasgow School of Art.

All teaching is conducted at the Glasgow School of Art either in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building or in associated GSA buildings close by.

Field Trip

A mandatory component of the programme is a weekend field study trip to Hospitalfield House on the west coast of Scotland, where students will participate in site-specific art workshops.  The House overlooks the North Sea, is surrounded by its own small estate and is situated a mile from the centre of Arbroath.  Originally built during the thirteenth century as a hospital to the Abbey of Aberbrothock, the House was dramatically altered and restructured between 1850 and 1890 and became the first school of Fine Arts in Scotland.