The Loss of Niche Artforms at Massey University

Massey University was once a utopia for artists to excel in their distinctive crafts. Now, cuts have forced students into the mainstream. Makers with an affinity for the esoteric have been left high and dry. Jewellery making, darkroom photography, garment block patterns, concept design for imaginary worlds, contemporary letterpress, design for festivals, drawing the body — these are just a handful of the specialist artforms lost to Massey’s cuts in the last three years. Some of them haven’t completely gone away, they’ve just lost their solo course devotion, now being embedded into core courses.  

Students say they want their electives back. But Massey tells us brand new electives will start next year focused on the “pressing issues of our time”, like climate and social change.  

Design student Olivia Maffitt found her passion for jewellery in Massey’s now cut 100-level course. After dropping out of Victoria University, the course encouraged her to give uni another go. “I’ve always wanted to make my own jewellery, so that was a massive part of me coming to uni again,” she remembers.  

The course fueled her love for the craft and inspired her to start her own jewellery business — Blaisey Boo. Without the elective, Olivia doesn’t believe she would be able to create her pieces which are now sold in high-end fashion store, Bizarre Bazaar. 

Photos / Oscar Maltby

“Having the course, the resources, and amazing teachers meant that it was a possibility for me to start my business. I needed that foundational knowledge.” 

The course also informed her entire Spatial Design practice. For Olivia’s honour’s project, she is working with aluminum casting in the workshop.  

In core Spatial Design courses, all the creating centers around online software, like Adobe Suite programs. Without the inclusion of specialist electives like jewellery making, students suggest they won’t have the opportunity to expand their practice in unique ways.  

A key motivation to enroll in art school is to obtain technical training which wouldn’t be theoretically possible outside a learning institution. For Photography students, many focus on analogue practices, such as processing film and creating darkroom prints. These skills are practically impossible to learn outside of university. 

For Eli Armstong, a third-year Photography student, watching a blank piece of paper turn into an image under liquid is a feeling like no other. But this year, all 300-level Photography electives were cut, including Advanced Darkroom Photography.  

The class, which challenged analogue students to push their darkroom practice through unconventional techniques, was rewritten and turned into compulsory paper called Post Photography. Many students are now forced to take it, even if they lack interest or experience in analogue photography. This has left digital-focused students out of their depth and film enthusiasts under-challenged. 

Eli had the opportunity to take the Advanced Darkroom elective before it was chopped and fell in love with analogue processes. From making analogue stop-motions to printing darkroom images onto metal using liquid light, Eli would not be where they are now without the class.  

Eli says, “If I hadn’t taken advanced darkroom when I did, I don’t believe I would have had the opportunity’s I have had. Being able to focus on a specific and niche topic really broadened my perspective on what I could do with my practice.” 

In two off-campus solo exhibitions, Eli beautifully celebrated their analogue practice. For a third-year student, the stage they’re at in their career is phenomenal. Without classes like Advanced Darkroom, Eli doesn’t believe their skills would have been pushed this far. 

Lily Laughton, a fourth-year Visual Communication Design (VCD) student, worries the programme is becoming too generalised. With an interest in metalwork and no jewellery elective to cater to it, Lily has had to dive into the scary world of outsourcing.  

“Outsourcing is really intimidating. People expect you to know things that without specialised teaching, you just don’t.” Because of Lily’s love for her work, she’s put in the mahi to self-teach her niche practice.  

But Lily wonders why she’s spending so much on a university education when she’s ended up teaching herself, saying, “What separates me from anyone that has access to YouTube?” 

While specialist artforms may be cut down, CoCA associate professor Bridget Johnson says new “challenge-based, impact-driven" electives are being introduced next year. Electives like Climate Change, Material Innovation, Health and Wellbeing, Social Change, Exhibition and Curation, and Printmaking. “Through these new courses we are giving students opportunities to apply their creative practice to some of the most pressing issues of our time.”  

She said that over the past two years, the college has undertaken a “significant curriculum renewal project to ensure our programmes remain at the forefront of creative arts education”.  

“Our goal is to give students the strongest possible preparation for the rapidly evolving creative industries and equip them to make meaningful contributions in their communities.” 

It's no secret that the art industry isn’t the most financially safe workforce to enter. Johnson notes that the approach of embedding specialist skills into core courses reflects the cross-disciplinary nature of today’s creative sector, where breadth of experience is highly valued.  

Taking a chance on yourself and leaping into an Arts education is already a huge career risk. This risk feels smaller when you're gaining distinctive skills you wouldn’t get otherwise.  

Yet, students continue to find ways to learn their niche artforms outside university — but wouldn’t it be nice if they didn’t have to?