A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT 

The Department of Fine Arts and Design is one of the departments in the Faculty of Humanities. It began as one of the two constituent Units that made up the Department of Creative Arts, ie; the Theatre and Visual Arts. At the onset of 1982, it was Theatre Art alone until Visual Arts was added in 1984. The integrative approach at that time perhaps informed why the necessity of the arts as one component Unit. But by 1987 the entire programme was restructured into two separate and independent units of Theatre Arts and Visual Arts running two degree programmes.

From its humble beginning with three students, one female and two males the programmes have grown steadily in terms of the needed expansions in core areas of specializations of multi-disciplines. Today, this has resulted into separations of the two Units of the Department of Creative Arts into autonomous departments in September 2002. The two Units thereafter changed their nomenclatures to Departments of Fine Arts and Design and Theatre Arts respectively. However, before this action took place, in the year 2000 the Department had initiated a basic programme called Certificate Course in Fine Arts and Design (CFAD). This programme is a professionally oriented one, which aims at producing middle level manpower for educational institutions, employers of labour and such institutions as cultural centres, vocational workshops and professional visual artists without design training. The University of Port Harcourt’s academic policy provides for higher educational attainments where those who obtain excellent grades such as distinction or credit passes at the end of the one year course are eligible to be considered for admission into the degree programme of Fine Arts and Design, provided they fulfil the University’s admission requirements, i.e., five credits at the GCE, NECO, NABTEB or School Certificate Examinations.

So far five persons have headed the Department, four as Acting head, and one as Head of Department. They are;

PROCESS OF CURRICULUM DESIGN

The need to revise the current undergraduate programme of the Department of Fine Arts and Design is informed by the current development efforts of global changes, locally and internationally. Some of these requirements are provided hereunder. The department participates in Student Industrial Works Experience Scheme, (SIWES). It is a scheme of Industrial Training (IT) for students whose academic programmes are oriented towards technological and practical engagements. In the past, the IT ran on a two (2) long vacations of three credit hours per long vacation, culminating into a total of six credit hours in the course of study. Recently, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the NUC directed that the programme should be restructured to run for a singletier six months in the student’s study period. In line with the above, participating students are therefore expected to commence the programme from the third year, through to the end of the long vacation.

In order to accommodate for this demands, the department decided to;

• Review the programme in order to maintain its 4-year degree programme, instead of an extension into five{5}years.
• Redistribute the courses arising from the implications of implementing the IT demands to maintain a total minimum of 30 credits for an academic year.

Review to meet with adequate preparation of student in their studio specializations providing for new introductory courses for the specialized fields.

The revision provides for new opportunities. First, inadequate course descriptions were updated in each studio specialization as new course codes were introduced to make for expansion of courses where the need arises. Above all, the courses are now repositioned to be in harmony with the graduate programme the department is currently running.

PHILOSOPHY  

The programme is designed to cater for the interest of students offering a full four year BA Honours degree in Fine Arts and Design as both a single honours or double major in Education. It is, however, concerned with the critical disciplines of the Fine Arts and design as it relates to aesthetics and functionality in all environments where it is practiced.

AIMS

The Department of Fine Arts and Design was established to provide talented and highly motivated students with the theoretical, conceptual and technical skills needed to excel as professional artists and designers. The aim is to produce graduates who are well positioned to meet the demands of a dynamic and changing society. The Department comprises a core of highly trained academics and professionals for the actualization of these goals.

OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT 

To instil in the student a sound knowledge of the language of Fine Arts and Design in a changing society.

To reveal to the students through theoretical and practical methods the aesthetic values of art in a given society.

To promote graduates who are well positioned to meet the demands of a dynamic and changing society.

VISION STATEMENT

The University of Port Harcourt’s mission is to contribute to national development, self reliance and unity through the advancement and propagation of knowledge and to use such knowledge for service to the community and to humanity.

To this end, the Department of Fine Arts and Design shall be one of the leading departments in art and design education; in teaching and generating new knowledge through research and reinvestment of research to uplift humanity. It aspires to achieve this by attracting a core of highly trained and motivated academics and students in order to provide creative solutions to demands of society.

THE MISSION 

The Department shall endeavour to attain a leading position in the University, the Niger Delta, Nigeria and in global contexts by developing creative solutions towards ideals for which creative impulses have always been instigated in human consciousness for the growth of cultures

The Department is committed to promote a well-rounded art and design education, which includes studio supplementary disciplines of art criticism/appreciation and art history to facilitate a hike in visual literacy among students and staff and the immediate locus of the university and beyond.

The Department’s commitment to art education includes providing talented and highly motivated students and staff with theoretical, conceptual and technical skills needed to excel as professional artists and designers who are able to cope with the demands of a dynamic and changing society.

The department is poised to compete with other disciplinary focuses in the University, relevant Government and non governmental agencies to bring about the integration of the town and gown for the purpose of uplifting the Department and the University as it persuades and offers alternative ways of appreciating cultural progress and advancements in human societies.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

To be admitted into the degree programme, a candidate requires at least FIVE Ordinary Level (O/L) credit passes at the SSCE, GCE, NECO, NABTEB, or its equivalent examinations plus a pass in the JAMB examination. Two of the five credits shall include English Language and Fine Arts/Visual Arts, Building Technology, Technical Drawing, Woodwork, Metal Construction, Fabrication and Design, Painting and Decoration and Art and Crafts. A candidate may also be admitted with credit pass in the pre-degree programme (PFAD) in place of a credit in Fine art. In like manner, special consideration may be given to students seeking admission through intra university transfer to the department without O/L in Fine Art.

FACILITIES FOR STUDIES:

There are, at present NINE studio spaces located within the Multi Purpose Complex at the University Park for teaching and learning, and a Digital Library. Additional facilities are currently being planned. The programme was initially housed in the Library complex while it was uncompleted. The need to complete the building saw the Department relocated to its present studio spaces as a temporary measure.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME:

B.A. (Hons) FINE ARTS & DESIGN is structured into six (6) areas of specialization which are regarded as options. They include;

Art History

Painting

Sculpture

Ceramics Design

Graphics and Communication Design

Textiles and Fashion Design

It is to be noted that at the end of the second year, and in consultation with the various staff advisers, a student shall be encouraged to specialize in one of the above mentioned disciplines.

PRE-DEGREE COURSE IN FINE ARTS AND DESIGN (CFAD)

The Pre-degree course in Fine Arts and Design is one of the programmes that is being run by the Department of Fine Arts and Design. The programme is theory and practice-oriented. It is aimed at producing artists with appropriate skills for self reliance and whose services may be required in such areas of culture industry and resident artists and designers for the media industry, skills acquisition centres, States Council for Arts and Culture, professional and semi-professional bodies.

Students are required to do all courses as required to lay the foundation in the practice of art. Thus, they graduate as general practitioners with rudimentary knowledge in:

Sculpture

Painting

Graphic Design

Textile Design

Ceramics Design

Drawing

History off Art and Art Appreciation

A certificate course in Fine Arts and Design (FAD- with Distinction or Credit level) obtained by a candidate qualifies him/her for admission into the degree programme leading to the award of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts and Design. For this category of students the O/Level in Fine Art is not compulsory as the programme is made to compensate for the deficiency in Fine Art.