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Jaimee Peters: Fine Arts Student

Jaimee Peters

You went to Uni straight from school?
Yes.
How difficult was it to get in?
Pretty tough. Canterbury has the rep of being one of the best for Fine Arts. There are usually a few hundred applications and only 55 places. Because I came straight from school I had to make sure my marks and qualifications were good. These had to include two practical arts and three other subjects and I also had to submit a portfolio.
How long does it take to get the degree?
Four years. The first year you do two papers on Art Theory and Art History (they’re worth 6 points each). We have two hours of lectures per week and just 1 hour’s tutorial but the studio work is 9 to 5 - but there are quite a few who don’t do the time and you really need to. In the first semester you spend 2 weeks on each discipline - this is basically to find out whether you can paint … or not! It also includes show, development and imagination. In the second semester you specialise in only two disciplines and spend five weeks on each of them and then you get to specialise in your chosen discipline.
"You have to get right into it from the very start. You simply have to put in the effort."
Can you give us an example of something you had to do?
Well, you spend a lot of time pretty much by yourself and a lot of the course is about development, design and concept - applied to an egg for example! Or architecture. We also had to do a 100 page response to a piece of music in two weeks and you learn very quickly how to critique your own work.
What do you want to specialise in?
Painting and Design. But so do a lot of the others and there are only 8 vacancies for each discipline so it’s very competitive. However, if you don’t get what you want you can go to other Unis.
It’s a huge campus. Is it hard to find your way around?
Not really. Uni is like a lot of separate specialised schools in one area so it’s not that difficult or different. I just mainly go to the Fine Arts Department because I don’t really have a reason to go to any of the others. It’s like a school within a school and being here is all about making connections in the art world
And after you graduate?
I’m not sure yet. It’s still years away. There are exchange programmes available in Honors and Masters in Sydney and New York and I do want to travel. Ideally, I guess my ultimate dream is to be a practising artist with my own gallery.
Any advice?
You have to get right into it from the very start. You simply have to put in the effort.