Department of Art Workspaces and Tools

Ceramics | Core Studio | Fibers | Jewelry and Metalsmithing | Painting and Drawing | Photography | Printmaking | Sculpture | Art & Technology Facilities | Additional Facilities and Resources

The Department of Art offers classes, gallery space, and visiting artist lectures at Lawrence Hall and other main campus locations. Painting and Drawing, Printmaking and Letterpress studios are located in Lawrence Hall. The Northsite, a complex of studios located near Lawrence Hall, is home to Art & Technology, Ceramics, Fibers, Jewelry and Metalsmithing, Photography, and Sculpture.

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Ceramics

The ceramics facility is located on the Northsite, and supports a wide range of processes and techniques. It is designed and equipped to afford unfettered access and breadth where no single process takes precedence. Having the ability to use technologies that are thousands of years old are as important as those that are still being developed.

Facilities are provided for:

• Processing
• Glazing
• Mixing
• Firing

Ceramics also houses an exhibition/project space that you may reserve for one-week periods or longer during academic breaks.

Equipment

Clay-Mixing

The mixing facilities have a number of options seldom found outside of industry, including shearer and filter press and those common to the studio ceramist, such as blunger mixers, Soldner mixer, dough mixer, cement mixer, and de-airing pug mills.

Wheels

Our Throwing Dojo has 30 potter's wheels including electric, treadle, and kick. Advanced students and grads often have dedicated wheels in private spaces.

Kilns

The Firing Lab makes available as much breadth in process as possible from a super-high temperature test kiln or Wall-of-Burners to traditional kilns of all makes and sizes including ones that can be loaded with a forklift. Ten gas kilns vary from 2 to 60 cu. ft., and include updraft, downdraft, soda, and raku. Ten electric kilns ranging from small test or 16.5 cu. ft. oval to a frontloading are also available. We also have an experimental kiln pad with an 18 cu. ft. catenary arch wood kiln.

Casting and Mold Making

We also have a MakerBot 3D Printer (prints plastic and slip) and clean space for making and designing models.

Material Research Lab

The Material Research Lab is maintained as a library, material collection, and laboratory with extensive industrial equipment for weighing, mixing, analyzing, processing, and producing the entire spectrum of ceramics and glass materials.

Miscellaneous Equipment

Our 6000+ sq. ft. shop is designed to offer support for the entire range of ceramic processes and materials, which houses everything from private office and studio spaces to separate laboratories for casting, throwing, digital processes, research, and gallery project space.

In addition, we have:

Affiliated students may also get access to:

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Core Studio

Core Studio labs take place in dedicated studio classrooms that are open 24 hours to student access. These classrooms are fully equipped with tools and materials relevant to course work including:

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Fibers

The Fibers studio is well-equipped with tools, including:

• 4, 8, 12, & 24 Harness floor looms
• 24 Harness AVL CompuDobby loom
• TC2 Digital Jacquard Loom
• 18th Century Manual Jacquard Loom & Punch-card machine
• Standing tapestry looms
• Spinning Wheels
• Fully equipped Dye lab for Natural and Synthetic dyes
• Screen-printing tables for bar repeat
• Dark room and exposure unit for photographic screen-printing processes
• Various sewing machines & sergers
• On-campus Indigo Dye garden

A shared studio is available for BFA students. MFA students are provided private or shared studios either on the Northsite or in Lawrence Hall.

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Jewelry and Metalsmithing

The studio is well-equipped with tools, including:

Graduate students are located in adjoining studio space with its own soldering and work areas. A periodicals collection and small metals-focused library are also available in the studio.

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Painting and Drawing

Drawing and painting courses are offered in large studios with natural lighting and excellent ventilation in Lawrence Hall. BFA students are offered shared studio spaces on the university campus Northsite, across Franklin Boulevard from Lawrence Hall. They have 24-hour access to the Northsite shared studio spaces.

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Photography

The Photography area, housed in the ground level floor of the Millrace 3 Building, is a well-appointed and expansive facility.

Specialized spaces for student use include:

Equipment for student use includes:

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Printmaking

Advanced students at the BFA and MFA levels are provided with individual workspaces and have 24-hour access to the shops and equipment. The print shop supports large-scale work providing a 42” x 60” Nuarc Tri-Light exposure unit and a 72” x 39.5” Takach etching press.

Our print shop facilities include separate studios for:

Inventory includes:

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Sculpture

Studio courses are small (usually less than 15 students), offering you an intensive and immersive working environment with lots of peer and faculty engagement. Advanced students at the BFA and MFA levels are provided with individual studios in or nearby the Sculpture building, and have 24-hour access to the shops and equipment.

Our facilities include:

• Fully equipped woodshop
• Comprehensive metal shop
• Large mold making and casting room
• General workspace that opens to an outdoor, covered work pad

In addition to the sculpture tools and equipment, students have access to:

• The Department’s laser cutter
• CNC router
• A range of digital and video equipment

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Art & Technology Facilities

Art & Technology offers a number of diverse facilities for use by affiliated students in Millrace Studios 1 and 2.

The Experimental Design Lab, located in Millrace Studio 1, room 114, provides the following resources:

• Large format printing
• Vinyl cutter
• Printable vinyl
• Heat presses: heat press vinyl for shirt and hat presses

The mixed media Fusion Lab, located in Millrace Studio 2, room 125, provides the following resources:

• Electronics workbench with a limited selection of digital components and soldering stations
• 3D printing capabilities
• Light fabrication workbench with an assortment of manual and powered hand tools
• Carvey CNC router
• Oculus Rift PC development workstations
• Mac workstations with an assortment of production/development software, including Adobe CC
• Configurable lighting grid for photo/video project documentation
• Retractable green screen

The Sound Lab/Analogue Animation Studio, located in Millrace Studio 2, room 123, provides the following resources:

• Mac digital audio recording/production workstation with Logic Pro X and Ableton Live
• MOTU 828x digital audio interface
• Sony digital audio mixer
• Sound isolation recording booth
• A small selection of dynamic and condenser microphones
• Musical keyboard
• Custom stop-motion animation workstation
• Manual copy and photo stand

The Digital Animation Lab, located in the mezzanine of Millrace Studio 2, room 124, provides the following resources:

• Multiple Mac workstations with comprehensive digital animation and video production software
• Wacom Cintiq digital drawing tablets
   

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