Join a creative community of emerging artists, designers and art historians and discover your creative talents. Our Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design develops your skills as a graphic designer and contemporary artist through studio practice, industry placements in the creative industries, opportunities to study art history abroad and present your artwork in galleries and exhibitions.

You will enhance your creativity working in a broad range of mediums, such as drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture and be supported by educators who are art historians, designers and curators, and who exhibit their work nationally and internationally. 

You’ll have the opportunity to study art history overseas, at the Venice Biennale, in Paris or at our Rome campus, developing local and international networks and expanding your global outlook. Your work will be exhibited in our ACU gallery spaces over the course of your degree and you’ll get real-world experience through professional practice and an industry internship.

In your final year you’ll complete a major project in your chosen area and take part in the graduate exhibition showcasing your artwork, catalogue design, events management, and curating skills.

Graduates of this course can pursue further study with a Master of Teaching degree.

Professional experience

You will be required to complete a Professional Practice unit and a 105-hour Industry Internship.

The Professional Practice unit gives you the opportunity to explore some of the diverse career outcomes available to you as a visual arts and design graduate. It emphasises the importance of being an enterprising, socially responsible professional among your networks and communities of practice within the creative industries.

The Industry Internship requires you to volunteer in any area across the creative industries that interests you. This may include: facilitating creative workshops for community groups, volunteering in a museum or gallery, or working with graphic and web design companies or publishers.

Professional recognition

Graduates of this course may be eligible for membership of the following professional bodies:

• Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA)
• Australian Print Council
• Australian Net Art and Technology (ANET)
• Australian Sculptors Association
• Craft Australia
• International Council of Museums (ICOM)
• International Association of Art (UNESCO) (only available to NAVA members)
• National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
• Potters Society
• Victorian Artists Society (VAS)
• Victorian Ceramic Group.