The discipline of Fine Arts is intended for students who wish to involve themselves as practitioners in the visual arts or related fields.

At UNSW, the study of this discipline is through the College of Fine Arts (COFA) at Paddington. Major areas of study within Fine Arts are: drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture, installation and performance.

Drawing is a common language, which supports many disciplines within the college, and forms the basis of a general visual awareness. Drawing is the source, and result of a passionate response to the world, the origin of radical thought given birth by finding equivalents in line and mark.

Painting at COFA is interpreted broadly in terms of media and approach. Beneath these diverse outcomes however, lies a sound underpinning in both the handling of traditional and contemporary mediums and the intelligent application of theory and convention. Drawing, an overview of aesthetics, and the historical and contemporary positions of painting are compulsory and important parts of a Painting major.

Printmaking focuses upon print media and is concerned with creativity through manipulation of the medium. Approaches which are examined in this area of study include digital imaging, etching, lithography, relief printing, screen-printing, photomechanical procedures, paper technology and various modes of delivery and presentation.

The Sculpture, Installation and Performance area of study is a stimulating community of creative research and scholarship that aspires to excellence in the conception, production and presentation of contemporary art practices. Because contemporary Sculpture, Installation and Performance are often inter disciplinary and span a multitude of divergent practices, the program is inherently flexible, open to experimentation, and is tailored to accommodate each student's personal, creative direction.

Photomedia is concerned with the issues of analogue and digital image production within the context of national and international contemporary visual arts practice and debate central to the development and production of artwork. Emphasis is placed on conceptual and practical investigations through specific projects designed to promote the acquisition of technical skills and foster critical individual interpretations in addition to conceptual and aesthetic development.

Time-based Art is an interdisciplinary area embracing the development of experimental and critically conceived work in experimental film, video art, performance, experimental animation, screen-based and interactive installation, interactive media and sound art. This study area is a leading area for the development of video art and experimental film at a university level in Australia.

Studying Fine Arts at UNSW