ruskin school of art personal statement

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What should I include in my personal statement when applying to the Ruskin? (Or any kind of top art school)

I’m trying to come up with ideas for my personal statement for my application to the Ruskin school of art, but I don’t really know where to begin. I do paintings and drawings (you could see some on my posts on my profile - I know they might not be Ruskin potential but I figured it’s worth a shot applying!) but I don’t know where to start when I talk about them.

Do I talk about my artwork or not so much? My favourite arists (Giacometti, Yayoi Kusama, Van Gogh) and their influences on my work? I’m also very interested in Existentialism at the moment. I’m reading Sartre’s Existentialism is a Humanism, and I think I’m going to read L’Étranger by Camus (in french) afterwards. So I could talk about that maybe? I’m trying to think how to make myself stand out and sound really clever without coming off as pretentious.

TLDR: I’m writing a personal statement to apply to a top art school but I don’t know what to include. Any ideas? Thank you :))

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The Ruskin School of Art

'At the Ruskin School of Art, our research programme includes cross-disciplinary commissions with established and emerging artists. We bring artists to Oxford so that they can work with different faculties across the University.'

I'm speaking to  Paul Bonaventura , Senior Research Fellow at the  Ruskin School of Art . I want to find out from him about a new commission that marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta  – how a contemporary artistic interpretation of the Great Charter brings to the fore how differently we treat historical documents and digest information in a digital world – and hear more generally about the Ruskin’s work and his role in it.

'Some years ago I realised that the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta was fast approaching. I also realised that Oxford held four of the last remaining copies of the document and counted among its academic staff a wide range of subject experts. So I approached individuals at the  Bodleian Library , Faculty of History and Faculty of Law to see if they might be interested in working with the school on an anniversary commission and put together a collaborative proposal for the British Library. The British Library holds two of the four remaining examples of the 1215 version of Magna Carta and has been working towards a landmark anniversary exhibition for several years.

'Once I'd identified the research base in Oxford, established the partnership with the British Library and raised the funding, we went about the process of identifying an artist, approaching individuals whose work revealed a pre-existing interest in politics, history or law. In the end we selected Cornelia Parker for her proposal to produce an embroidered facsimile of the Wikipedia article on Magna Carta as it appeared on the document’s 799th anniversary.

For Cornelia, the Wikipedia article carries with it an echo of the document itself.

'For Cornelia, the Wikipedia article carries with it an echo of the document itself. It sits somewhere on the boundary between authority and democracy and is the product of many hands.

'In order to produce the artwork we took a snapshot of the article on 15 June 2014 and output it on fabric. The fabric was then divided into panels and sent out to contributor-stitchers all over Britain. Once the panels are completed they will be sewn together to generate an analogue copy of the digital original.'

Are people doing the embroidery metaphorically significant? 'We are working with a number of project partners on the commission:  The Embroiderers’ Guild ,  Fine Cell Work (a social enterprise that trains prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework),  the Royal School of Needlework  and  Hand & Lock . The images that appear on the artwork have all been embroidered by members of the Embroiderers’ Guild, but most of the text has been stitched by prisoners. There are only three clauses from a later reissue of Magna Carta that remain on the statute books and the most famous of these is the clause that underpins the Rule of Law.

'But of course Magna Carta has an impact on everyone and Cornelia wanted this to be reflected in her artwork, so she assigned individual words and phrases to people from all walks of life: judges and lawyers, campaigners, clerics, artists, musicians, academics, librarians. The fact that no one is above the law is one of the driving conceptual forces behind Magna Carta (An Embroidery).'

Getting all those bits of embroidery to different people and back again must have been a complex process. What role does contemporary art play as a medium for public communication? 'Art is a broad church and I’m particularly interested in those artists who are trying to access audiences outside of the museum and gallery sector; those artists who produce work that naturally finds a home in other parts of the public domain.'

He gives me an example of a piece that was local to Oxford.

'Some years ago we did a project with an artist called  Richard Woods . Richard makes over the interiors and exteriors of buildings using cartoon graphic devices. In partnership with New College we arranged for Richard to give one of their best-known historical buildings – the 14th-century Long Room that looks on to  Queen’s Lane  – the "red brick" treatment. A project like NewBUILD is inherently site-specific.'

The Ruskin is an art department within a vast academic university. What does that add to the study of fine art? 'Artists are interested in working across disciplines. Until recently most art schools were standalone organisations, but the Ruskin has always been a university-based art school. What that means is that it sits alongside the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences – all of the subjects that are represented across the University. In terms of developing the research programme that gave me permission to think about bringing artists together with experts from other faculties.'

You've touched on the history of the Ruskin – can you tell me more about it? 'The school was founded by  John Ruskin  in 1871 as a school of drawing. It was set up on the basis that if you could read, write, draw and were numerate you had all the tools you required to make sense of the world. As time went on, the drawing school became a school of fine art. The undergraduate degree only acquired honours status in the early 1990s and its programme of postgraduate study is a fairly recent development.'

How did you come to be Senior Research Fellow at the Ruskin? 'I originally started out studying science, but moved across to study the history of art and architecture. After I graduated I became as an exhibitions organiser, firstly at  Modern Art Oxford and then at the  Whitechapel Gallery . In Oxford and London artists were saying "It’s fantastic to exhibit here, but can you help me have a conversation with a meteorologist or an organic chemist?" That prompted me to think about establishing some kind of research programme that would allow those conversations to happen. I approached  Stephen Farthing  (Ruskin Master of Drawing 1990–2000) to see whether he might be interested in such a programme and he generated a new post expressly for that purpose. This is the post I currently occupy.'

As well as the Cornelia Parker commission, the Ruskin is currently touring the outcomes of another commission called Shot at Dawn, which is the work of the young British photographer  Chloe Dewe Mathews . How did this piece come to be? 'In 2012 Chloe expressed an interest in producing a new body of work that focused on the sites where British, French and Belgian troops were executed for cowardice and desertion between 1914 and 1918. Sir Hew Strachan , Chichele Professor of the History of War and one of the country’s great experts on the First World War, provided the project with detailed support from the outset and put Chloe in contact with academics and independent researchers who could assist her with her research.

'The success of the Ruskin’s research programme all comes back to it being the fine art department at the University of Oxford. If artists can find an approach to a subject that is equally interesting to academics in other areas then the conversation will unfold organically. Good projects help individuals from all walks of life to reassess their activities. In the best cases the collaborations help artists to develop new work from a sound research base, but they also help academics to look at their subject in a new way.'

Finally, what gives you most job satisfaction? 'Hopefully, making a difference.'

Paul Bonaventura

Paul Bonaventura is the Senior Research Fellow in fine art studies at the Ruskin School of Drawing & Art and the special lecturer in fine art at Magdalen College, Oxford.

About Paul Bonaventura

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What art and design tutors are looking for

The underlying message is that tutors want to know about you, your practice, your inspirations, and your aspirations, and for your personal statement to act as written accompaniment to your portfolio and performance at interview.

How to make your art and design statement stand out

Admissions tutors prefer to read personal statements that don't stick to a predictable formula – here are a few tactics to ensure yours packs a punch.

• Focus on the course: Martin Conreen, design admissions tutor at Goldsmiths, University of London, urges applicants for design courses 'not to over mention art' but to stay focused on design. He also feels some applicants waste too much space on non-relevant factors like their sporting achievements.
• Your influences: Martin adds he wants to hear who your influences are, why they inspire you, and 'how their work has resonance with your own, or with your own ideas'.
• Examples of what inspires you: David Baldry, fine art course leader at University Campus Suffolk, echoes this: 'Tell us what inspires you. We want to know what contemporary art interests you, so talk about key artists or an exhibition that made an impression on you. We want to know how you respond to the world creatively, so talk about your experiences or projects you’ve developed independently. Also, edit it so it sounds punchy'.
• Demonstrate your artistic ambitions: Alison Jones, fine art admissions tutor at Goldsmiths, is looking for 'interesting individuals who have a passion for art and a commitment to developing themselves as artists. Therefore, your personal statement should demonstrate an understanding of your own work, focusing on what is unique about your practice'.
• Be original: starting your statement with a well-known quote – such as 'fashion is not something that exists in dresses only' – is inadvisable. 189 applicants quoted that exact Coco Chanel snippet last year, so it really won't make you stand out from the crowd.

It's all summed up nicely by Arts University Bournemouth whose advice is:

'Be focused on the field you're applying for (no scattergun approach), name artists or designers you admire, think contemporary, reflect on exhibitions or galleries or events you've visited, and don't think "I'll tell them at the interview" – put it in the statement!'

Find out more about studying art and design, including entry requirements, why you should study it, and possible careers it could lead on to.  

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Oxford’s Fine Art course is unique in its studio-based, collaborative focus, and opportunity to study Human Anatomy in first-year.

Course Resources

Here are some general resources related to Fine Art.

Oxford Course Overview 🔗 🌟 The University has produced this guide to the application, which includes information on course structure, entry requirements, and the degree of flexibility you have in your studies.

Ruskin School of Art overview 🔗 Here, the Ruskin School of Art has produced a useful overview of the course, which provides more detail on the degree of flexibility and what you might encounter in each year of study.

Video Overview 🔗 🌟 This video is a handy introduction to studying Fine Art at Oxford, and includes student perspectives and advice from tutors.

Alternative Prospectus 🔗 The Oxford Student Union has produced this informal overview of the Fine Art course in the Alternative Prospectus. Here, you’ll hear real student testimonies, and in particular, see a focus on the human anatomy course in first year.

More things to explore

Course Handbook 🔗 Here is the 2022-2023 course handbook, which will give you a clear insight into the course structure, aims of the course, and assessment.

Student Q&A video 🔗 🌟 This student-produced video from St Edmund Hall is an excellent Q&A about the Fine Art course which will give you more insight into what it’s like being a Fine Artist at Oxford.

Application Resources

Suggested reading and resources 🔗 This list provides an idea of the types of material you might engage with during the course in Oxford - use it to develop your personal interests within the subject, and demonstrate your intellectual curiosity on your personal statement.

e-flux Journal 🔗 e-flux is an online journal which publishes essays and contributions by engaged artists and thinkers. It may be a particularly useful introduction to critical essays on art, and there may be an essay you wish to consider further.

Submitting your Portfolio Guide 🔗 The Ruskin School of Art has produced this informative webpage on how to submit your portfolio.

InsideUni Fine Art interview experiences 🔗 🌟 Current students talk about their interview experience, as well as sharing some tips. We’re biased, but we think they’re useful!

Our Top Tip

When submitting your portfolio, it is a good idea to include work that you have created outside of your A-Level or Art Foundation course. This work should be informed by your personal interests and any reading you may have done.

Related Subjects

Architecture 🔗

Ruskin School of Art

As Oxford’s first Slade Professor, Ruskin intended to develop a course for the University leading to a degree in art. Armed with a teaching collection of more than 800 watercolours and drawings and more than 400 prints, including works by Dürer, Tintoretto and Turner, the school was originally housed in the University Galleries. The school continued its work in what became the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, moving to its current High Street site in 1975, where it was called the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. Degrees in Fine Art (BFA) were first awarded by the University of Oxford in 1981.

In October 2015, the Ruskin opened a second Fine Art building - to augment its High Street premises - in Bullingdon Road, East Oxford. 'Bully Road', designed by Spratley Studios Architects, houses purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities and studios, and won an RIBA South Award 2016.

The Ruskin enjoys a special relationship with Oxford’s Department of the History of Art, which welcomed its first BA students in 2004, and with many other parts of the University, including the School of Anatomy, the Department of Engineering Science, the Institute of Archaeology and numerous museums.  The rapport with Modern Art Oxford is also extremely positive and Ruskin students have staged their own exhibitions and been involved in a number of projects with MAO.

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Podcast: ruskin school of art.

This is a series of podcast from the Ruskin School of Art. The Ruskin, as it is known, is the Fine Art Department of the University of Oxford. In an intimate and dynamic environment, the school gathers together cutting edge contemporary artists and art theorists with some of the brightest and most creative art students. Fine Art is taught as a living element of contemporary culture with a broad range of historical and theoretical references. Comprising both a flourishing undergraduate programme and a growing Dphil programme (made up of both practice-led and theory-based doctoral students), the Ruskin embodies risk-taking, curiosity, and rigour grounded in a wide sense of the word ‘research’.

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Sample MFA Personal Statement (admitted to New School and Rhode Island)

by Talha Omer, M.Eng., Cornell Grad

In personal statement samples by field.

The following personal statement is written by an applicant who got accepted to top graduate programs in fine arts (MFA). Variations of this personal statement got accepted at Rhode Island School of Design, New School–Parsons School of Design, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Read this MFA personal statement to get inspiration and understand what a top MFA essay should look like.

You might also be interested in reading this Sample MFA Statement of Purpose  that got admitted to Yale, UCLA, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sample MFA Personal Statement

Art rescued me from an abusive marriage in an oppressive society where human life is dispensable. It gave me the courage to stand up for myself and talk about uncomfortable things in our society. Born and raised in a conservative family, my father had conformist female values like; girls don’t answer doorbells and playing in public parks. So, while growing up, I wasn’t allowed to explore the outside world. The only thing that interested me indoors was the art section of weekly magazines. It was my first window to art.

My mother was always fond of making handcrafts like wooden crafts, flower making, and embroidery. As a curious child, I learned these techniques from her. Unfortunately, following a path dictated by my father, I completed high school in science instead of arts. Nevertheless, thanks to the Internet, I became aware of how vital it is to pursue my passion and then decided to apply to an Arts school. With only four months to prepare for the competitive entry test, my mother and I found a drawing studio where I religiously practiced 18 hours a day for the next four months.

Against all the odds, I went to the top art school in the country and graduated with honors on a scholarship. My thesis got a distinction and the Principal’s Honors award. Dr. Virginia Whiles, a UK-based Art Historian, saw my thesis and was awestruck. She remarked, “I hadn’t seen anything like this before,” and purchased my work for her collection. Later, she sent me an email from the UK informing me that she had quoted my work in an international art magazine (Art Monthly UK). This small but meaningful event consolidated my belief that art could transcend cultural boundaries.

As a child at home, I witnessed gender inequality. This created a perception that women are not welcome in a conservative household. In grade 6, I complained to my father, “I know you are not fond of daughters, but your behavior is hurting me.” He was astonished. I guess he was not expecting this from a naive 11-year-old. But something changed after that day. My father started to redress.

Eighteen years later, I still explore social, personal, and political discomforts. However, this time through my art, I translate what I see and experience into my own “language,” primarily sculptures. My father talks with pride about me being a first-generation college graduate and a financially independent woman. He also boasts about my work exhibited in London and the sculptures I created as a studio assistant to Benedict Cumberbatch, an Oscars Prize nominee. I guess generations-old taboos could be challenged. However, one needs the courage to be articulate, and I found myself most articulated through art.

I have always embedded social and cultural factors in my artwork. Whether they were community-based women empowerment projects with CED and CDC or my studio practice as a sculptor. Where my peers opted for jobs at fashion houses, I instead chose community-based projects. These projects allowed me to travel worldwide and offered me the experience of interacting with women in remote areas, discovering their untapped potential, and listening to their fascinating stories.

Moreover, teaching helped me boost my confidence and polish my art practice. It also taught me multitasking and teamwork. I realized social engagement through arts is rewarding, so I began teaching at a local art school. This experience taught me how therapeutic it is to share an artistic space with students. However, I need further education, an MFA precisely to teach at the university, alongside my studio practice.

Working in various locations has been challenging. Currently, I have a small studio set up at my home. I am proud of this studio as my work speaks to many viewers worldwide. Working with limited resources is hard, but I am trying.

The last five years of abusive marriage and divorce were tragic for me, and the most freedom I got to express myself was through art. It gave me the courage to face the world, pay collective homage to women’s struggles, and encourage them to break the silence and realize their potential. Therefore, I seek an artistic community where I can refine my practice in a true essence while defying social norms and taboos. An MFA will allow me to explore societal norms and female roles.

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Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art

The School was founded by John Ruskin after his appointment as the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford in 1871. As Oxford’s first Slade Professor, Ruskin intended to develop a course for the University leading to a degree in art. His endowment of £5000 gave provision for a drawing master, the first of whom was Alexander Macdonald. In 1922, when Sydney Carline succeeded Macdonald as Ruskin Master of Drawing, he set about equipping the school with some of the essentials that had previously been lacking, such as easels, but he was unable to overturn the University's restrictions on life drawing classes. Carline, who had been an Official War Artist during World War I, died at the early age of 42.

During World War II under threat of enemy bombing, the Slade School relocated to Oxford and the students formed part of the 'Ruskin'. The School continued its work in what eventually was to become the Ashmolean Museum , moving to its current High Street site in 1975. Ruskin’s dream of establishing a Bachelor of Fine Art degree was achieved in 1978, and this became the present honours degree in 1992. The School established its Master of Fine Art degree course in 2001. Its noted teachers included Albert Rutherston, the brother of William Rothenstein, and its alumni included R. B. Kitaj.

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Apply through Clearing, receive and accept your offer on 18 August to guarantee accommodation  at our Cambridge and Chelmsford campuses in September.

Writing your personal statement

When you're applying to university, a personal statement is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd. It’s really important to take time to think about, plan and write the best possible statement.

Try our simple exercise – the three-sheet method – as you go about preparing your statement.

Your chance to sell yourself

Personal statements are a maximum of 4,000 characters or 47 lines (about one side of typed A4) when applying through UCAS. If you apply through ARU online, the maximum word count is 2,000 words. You should remember that this may be your only opportunity to make an impression and sell yourself to a university's admissions officer or tutor. Many courses do not require an interview so the decision to offer a place is based on the content of the application form, and the personal statement is a very important part of this process.

A good way to approach writing your statement is to think about the future. Concentrate on what you want to achieve through your studies rather than describing the route you’ve taken to get to uni.

The things you’ve done in the past are important too, but they should be used to support your explanation of where you’re headed. It seems odd, but the best statements tend to explain what you’re going to be doing once you leave university.

Make sure your statement is relevant to the courses you’re applying for. Even if you’ve applied for five different courses, try to refer to each subject area. Tutors can be put off by no mention of interest in their course.

If you're finding it difficult to talk about a number of subject areas, you may be able to send a separate personal statement to the university. Contact them to ask if this is allowed. Here at Anglia Ruskin, we often receive applications for Optometry from people who have mainly applied for medicine. In this instance you can send a specific, supplementary optometry statement first.

ARU three-sheet method

We’ve developed a simple and straightforward process to help you write a really good personal statement.

We call it the ‘three-sheet method’ (you can do it on three sheets of paper) and we’ve successfully used it to help hundreds of students just like you.

We’ve also had lots of feedback showing that using this method helps to make the whole process much easier.

Additional resources

Read an example personal statement (PDF)

Take a look at our interactive personal statement guide (PDF)

• University application timeline
• UCAS checklist
• Sheet one: all about you
• Sheet two: person specification
• Sheet three: your personal statement
• What is UCAS Extra? An essential guide
• Transfer to ARU

The Ruskin School of Art

In an close-knit and dynamic environment, the school gathers together contemporary artists and theorists with some of the brightest and most creative art students. The Ruskin is deeply committed to artistic research at BFA and postgraduate level. Art is taught as a living element of contemporary culture and practice, yet with a broad range of historical and theoretical references, to ambitious students. Evidently, the wider University setting allows the Ruskin to be in close contact with subject areas and museum collections across the humanities and beyond.

The current redevelopment of the Ruskin’s studio site will open in 2015 with state-of-the-art facilities, a new exhibition space, and the introduction of a Master’s in Fine Art (MFA). It provides an important bridge between the Ruskin’s undergraduate and doctoral programmes, and an exciting opportunity to attract high-achieving emergent artists from around the world.

The Ruskin is immeasurably helped by your donations. Gifts will be used towards student scholarships and bursaries for those who need it the most. Any contribution, big or small, will make a huge difference to future generations of Ruskin students. Thank you so much for your support.

Donations will go towards priorities such as student scholarships and bursaries for emerging artists in need, and are directed to the Plachte Memorial Fund, established for purposes connected with the teaching of art in the University.

Donors in the US can give tax-effectively via Americans For Oxford (AFO). Donate via AFO

• The Ruskin School of Art website

Find other funds to support

In this section

Research at the ruskin, the ruskin school of art provides an exceptional environment in which research through art making is entwined with research about contemporary art, each mode of enquiry enriching the other within the larger context of a world-leading, research-intensive university., performance / shawanda corbett, revisiting genesis, web series, 2017 / oreet ashery.

Research is at the heart of the Ruskin's activities, and the School encourages and values the wide-ranging contributions that its teaching staff, postgraduate students, early career researchers, and academic visitors make to the disciplines of fine art practice, curatorship, criticism and art history. Uniquely positioned as an intimately-scaled art school embedded within a research-intensive university, the Ruskin’s dynamic, interdisciplinary structure allows artists and theorists to work closely together and to respond quickly and flexibly to developments within the wider contexts of art, academia and an increasingly uncertain international climate. In particular, we aim to lead by example in artistic research that intersects with politics, with psychology, with philosophy, and with medical sciences.   

The Ruskin’s research is well recognised across both academic and art worlds: among our small pool of current and recent studio postholders, three (Kiaer, Sworn, Martin) have received Leverhulme Prizes; two (Ashery, Martin) have received Jarman Awards; Ashery received a 2020 Turner Bursary.  Current Ruskin DPhil (PhD) researcher Shawanda Corbett was awarded a Turner Bursary as well, and current Dphil Brook Andrew led the 22nd Sydney Biennale as Artistic Director.  Our writings are published by prestigious presses such as MIT (Gardner, Cussans), Book Works (Palmer), Bloomsbury (Gaiger, Terraciano), Oxford University Press (Martin), I.B. Taurus (Kreider), Simon and Shuster (Kambalu), and Verso (Bull).  We exhibit in solo and group exhibitions, including international biennials (Venice; Istanbul; Sydney; Dakar; Liverpool; Shanghai and more).  

The  individual pages of Faculty members   contain our research interests and lists of major exhibitions and publications.   

Research in the School is actively supported by a Director of Research, a Research Committee, termly research forums, and weekly DPhil seminars; and within the Humanities Division by a Humanities Divisional Research Committee, a Research Facilitator, an Impact Officer; The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities ( TORCH ),  Knowledge Exchange  Fellowships, and  The Institute for Visual Research .  The School has strong links with other Faculties across the University and it draws on the extraordinary resources provided by the University’s museums and libraries, including the Bodleian, the Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers, the Museum of the History of Science and the Museum of Natural History.  The Ruskin’s appetite for reflecting on its own research methodologies finds expression in an open-access, online publication created by DPhil students:   OAR: The Oxford Artistic and Practice-Based Research Platform . 

The Ruskin welcomes applications for post-doctoral research and Early Career Fellowships through schemes provided by The Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy .  Deadlines are usually in August-October for British Academy and January/February for Leverhulme applications. The RSA website highlights these opportunities as they become available. For further questions please enquire with Director of Research Daria Martin ([email protected]). 

Ruskin School of Art 74 High Street Oxford OX1 4BG Email: [email protected] Tel: +44(0) 1865 276 940

128 Bullingdon Road Oxford OX4 1QP

For graduate study enquiries Email: [email protected] Tel: +44(0)1865 276941

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