Bachelor

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)

  • CRICOS code: 093589G
  • VTAC code: 3800638991
  • International VTAC code: 3800638993

The experience

Overview

Student spotlight: Mikaylah Lepua

Mikaylah Lepua is studying photography as part of the Bachelor Fine Arts (Visual Art) and is exploring her culture through her own unique lens.

Read more

Visual Art Grad Show

Each year, we curate the Visual Art Grad Show – a public exhibition of works from our graduating students across our Visual Art degrees, including the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art). Your work will be displayed as part of the next generation of contemporary Australian artists, demonstrating your vision and showcasing your art to the industry.

View the Grad Show

At home in the cultural heart of Melbourne

With classes and facilities in the heart of Melbourne’s Arts Precinct, the Faculty’s Southbank campus provides many wonderful opportunities for students to participate in the artistic life of Melbourne.

As a visual art student, you are encouraged to explore and develop your art practice throughout your three years of study, culminating in the graduate exhibition at the end of final year, where you will present your work to the public. The graduate exhibition attracts over 1000 attendees each year.

As a student, you will attend weekly Art Forum talks presented by visiting national and international artists, and work closely with your peers and teaching staff to challenge your own ideas, processes, and develop the language to engage meaningfully and critically with your own work and others in the context of contemporary art practice.

You will have access to a private studio space located on campus, state-of-the-art workshops with expert technical staff who can assist in realising artistic ideas, and two gallery spaces, including the newly opened Buxton Contemporary, and the Margaret Lawrence Gallery.

Faculty of Fine Arts and Music

The course is taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, the proud home of the Victorian College of the Arts and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

You’ll enjoy access to incredible facilities, including cinemas, digital vision and audio post-production facilities, visual art studios and technical workshop facilities, purpose-built dance studios, libraries, theatre and performance spaces, and animation and stop-motion studios.

While studying at the Faculty, you will have the chance to benefit from a range of partnerships and engagement activities at major arts companies in Melbourne's Arts Precinct, local and national festivals and sister institutions around the world.

Explore the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music

Wilin Centre

Situated in the heart of Melbourne's Arts Precinct, the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development provides exposure to contemporary Indigenous arts practices and supports the recruitment of Indigenous artists, academics and students.

Learn more about the Wilin Centre

Profile

Raafat Ishak

Meet the staff

Raafat Ishak, Head of Painting and Lecturer In Art

Raafat Ishak is the Head of Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts. Working across painting, installation and site-specific drawing, Ishak’s practice is informed by architecture and his Arabic cultural heritage. Ishak tells us about what makes the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art) program unique.

"The VCA visual arts course is unique in so many ways. Students will be taught by professional artists and academics who are engaged in the field at local, national and international levels. Some of these engagements are directly linked to the learning and teaching that takes place on campus, through exhibitions, conferences and events. Each year students are allocated their own studio space where they create work and meet with their lecturers (and peers) to discuss the work.

VCA Art is a vibrant environment of making and thinking as well as associated activities, guest lecturers, guest speakers, gallery and studio visits, exhibitions and many conversations about art. some of our students have been on exchange programs at art schools around the world. The message when they return is always the same. No other art school offers the same vibrant environment and community, not to mention the technical facilities and the geographical position of being so close to the most important public and commercial institutions in Melbourne."

Learn from the best

Your teachers are practicing artists who are well-connected to industry, and there are course-integrated opportunities to collaborate with students from other creative disciplines.

See more about specialisation areas and your teachers