Module manager: Dr Jo McGonigal
Email: j.mcgonigal@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
N/A
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module supports a sustained period of practice development, enabling you to engage with playful and risk-taking approaches to a broad range of materials and methods. You will be encouraged to draw on various research resources to enrich your developing practice. This can include museum collections and exhibition sources, archives, or site visits. Through group work in the studio, technical and creative workshops, talks and field trips you will be encouraged to develop artwork that reflects your research interests and locates your work within the contextual framework of contemporary art practice.
The Developing Practice module supports the development of an independent art practice and accompanying skills in research. It facilitates connections with research resources, spaces and contexts that can support and sustain your art practice.
The studio environment and access to technical workshops enables you to undertake speculative approaches to making, experimenting with a range of materials and technical processes. Opportunities to present work individually and in groups further develops considerations of space, display and dissemination. Professional Practice sessions offer insight into the arts ecology of the city and the region, and the wider social and cultural contexts that art operates within.
On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:
1. Experiment and innovate with a range of materials, processes, and technologies to independently produce a body of artwork.
2. Respond to social, cultural and historical contexts that can inform contemporary art practice, and recognise a range of opportunities for art practice in the city and region.
3. Evaluate research sources to locate your work within contemporary art practice.
4. Outline and present your developing practice through modes of display and dissemination with a growing awareness of space and audience.
On successful completion of the module, you be able to:
5. Discuss and appraise artwork effectively in group and in individual contexts.
6. Use information and perspectives from a range of sources to inform decision making and respect diverse positions.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| Seminars | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Practicals | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Lecture | 2 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Seminar | 12 | 2 | 24 |
| Private study hours | 345 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 55 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 400 | ||
Student progress is monitored through individual and group feedback in the context of studio groups, and the exhibition/display of practical work.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Portfolio | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team