“Creativity isn’t the monopoly of artists.” This remarkable statement by Joseph Beuys back in 1979 denotes not only the liberation but also the interdisciplinarization of contemporary visual arts practice. Over the past decades, various kinds of collaborations among different creative disciplines, non-artistic areas of knowledge and various stakeholders in society have opened creative practice to a variety and diversity beyond its traditional boundaries. 

VART4035 Interdisciplinary Practice in Visual Artists is an interdisciplinary capstone course in which senior students of the visual arts apply their cumulative disciplinary expertise to address specific community problems. Through a cycle of action and reflection students seek to achieve real objectives for the community while they develop deeper understanding and skills for themselves, linking personal and social development with academic and cognitive development. 

VART4035 Interdisciplinary Practice in Visual Artists establishes an academic framework to organise and manage course activities and to foster critical reflection of the experience. Interaction with the community is incorporated into the course by way of projects that have both learning and community intended outcomes. Projects will commonly be designed via collaboration between AVA and community partners, such as non-governmental organisations, government agencies, or corporations. Such projects require students to apply their skills and knowledge as acquired throughout their study years to community-based activities, thus testing their practice in real world contexts.