Diploma in Arts

at Massey University - Wellington Campus New Zealand

Study musicianship and performance in the popular genre of your choice — whether you’re a singer, DJ, or in a band, Music Practice will give you the skills and confidence to take risks and make it in the music industry.

In the Music Practice major, you’ll learn songwriting, composition, musicianship, and performance from some of New Zealand’s top musicians and professionals. The Bachelor of Commercial Music has strong connections with the music industry in New Zealand and around the globe, guaranteeing you an immersive, real-world-focused music education.

You’ll develop your writing and performing craft in your instrument or interface of choice—that could be an instrument, your voice, or your computer.  Learn to produce and compose music with industry-standard software and hardware, in some of the best facilities in the Southern Hemisphere.

More than just the design of buildings, spatial design is all about how people experience spaces. It intersects with the more traditional design fields of architecture, landscape design, interior design, urban design and environmental design.

People inhabit the world in many ways, but we all have spaces where we live, work, play, relax, perform, gather, learn, heal, and celebrate. The design of spaces affects how you feel, how you act, and how you interact with others: Does the layout of your local hospital make you feel reassured or stressed? Do you find you want to linger in some cafes but not in others? Does an office space make it easy and natural for people to get together? Do the views on a walk surprise and delight you because someone has thought carefully about the experience?

Spatial design can improve the standard and quality of our lives, enrich our culture and national identity, and contribute to business success. In spatial design studio courses, you'll learn to design for a host of spaces: private, public, retail, event, work, game, furnishing, experience, display, interface and performance. You learn to use the latest technologies and approaches to design spaces at the required scale, from the big picture (eg urban planning) to the fine detail of construction and materials.

Embed yourself in a rich dialogue about your creative practice in Massey’s transdisciplinary Master of Fine Arts (Design) qualification, for artists and designers. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) has a strong collective philosophy. By bringing together students from design and fine arts, the MFA fosters intense conversations and exploration.

For designers and artists
Choose whether you want to graduate with an MFA in design, in fine arts or without endorsement if you believe your work cannot be framed in terms of either discipline.
We have had students join the qualification whose undergraduate training is in fashion design, photography, textile design, industrial design, graphic design, fine arts and even music.

Massey’s Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts is for skilled graduates who want to gain new knowledge and skills in fine arts.

In the large art studio courses you’ll have the support to work in any media in an interdisciplinary studio environment. This includes sculpture, painting, drawing, performance, installation, moving image, photography, printmaking, site-responsive work, curatorial activities and art writing.

Other study could include a range of studio courses that develop your practice further. Critical and contextual studies also help expand your knowledge of art and design discourse.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts gives you the opportunity for advanced study in contemporary art. It is the entry point into fine arts postgraduate study at Massey University.

The programme combines theoretical inquiry with studio-based practice. It focuses on identifying, exploring and developing research methods that are relevant to current art practices and enquiry.

In the Master of Design, you’ll produce innovative and responsive design work that is thoroughly grounded in design research methodologies and expertly realised, with the option to work with industry leaders at Weta Workshop.

Commonplace across all major broadcasters and platforms is the audience's desire to consume factual series, bite-size web content and formatted shows from around the world. Factual Production is usually associated with non-fiction broadcast and includes formats such as documentary, chat shows, comedy, quiz and reality shows etc. In addition to broadcast TV, these formats are distributed across a number of different digital platforms both real-time and pre-recorded.

You will go on a journey of discovering compelling real-world true stories and characters lighting the screens of Aotearoa, as well as the international market. This deep dive into factual development, production and post- production reveals the mechanisms of fun and formatted, multi-camera, and studio shows all the way to long-form storytelling around the big issues of the day and character-based features.

We will investigate how the story or format defines the best approach to making the content, alongside explorations to discover your unique, creative voice. 

The Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours (Animation) major caters for those interested in joining the industry, as well as providing pathways for students wishing to gain studio employment or explore the medium as independent filmmakers.

Our focus is on skills using sophisticated, industry-standard 3D and 2D software to greatly enhance workflow. By becoming artistically and technically competent, you will work smarter instead of harder, freeing you to enjoy your craft as capable animators within a variety of team-based production environments.

In this major you will learn how to animate, focusing on the principles of the craft and learn how to model, texture and light 3D assets. There will be opportunities to work in team-based production environments, as well as on personal animation projects.

In Music Technology, you’ll work at the intersection of music, creativity, and technology. Study new interface and instrument development and electronics alongside audio engineering, recording and editing technologies, and live lighting and sound.

Master microphone techniques and sound design. Learn how to operate leading industry equipment, work with musicians to capture great recordings, and mixing and mastering techniques to produce professional-quality recordings.

You’ll also learn live light and sound skills, including how to operate small and large scale PAs, and design and program advanced lighting and projection rigs. We’ll teach you about all aspects of live, venue-based industry requirements.

It’s a flexible program of study with lots of choices. You’ll be introduced to the basics of art and design:

• Creative thinking
• Visual communication
• Specialist skills
• Critical awareness.
• No portfolio is required, just passion.

The Diploma in Visual Arts is made up of eight courses from the first year of our Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Design programs.
You’ll study with art and design degree students in a range of studio and lecture-based courses. These exciting courses cover everything from critical and contextual studies to social media, painting, and digital fabrication.