Art - Sculpture-Dimensional Studies

First-Year/Foundations/Sophomore

Building off of the Freshman Foundations experience, the sophomore level courses in the Division of Sculpture/Dimensional Studies introduce you to a variety of ideas, materials, and processes that provide a wealth of alternatives and a base of knowledge that you can rely upon as you continue to develop.

Junior/Senior

Progressing through the curriculum into the junior and senior years, you're continually exposed to new challenges, both technically and conceptually, which allows you to expand your artistic voice and to question the relationships that exist between materials and themselves within the context of contemporary art practice.

Mixed Media Sculpture/Paper

The curriculum is designed to meet the needs of students who wish to work in cross-disciplinary ways, with a conceptual focus. Materials are explored for attributes that contribute to the "reading" of the work. The introductory course investigates the qualities of paper as an interdisciplinary material within a mixed media potential that is easily integrated in 2-D, 3-D and 4-D (time based) studies.

Howland Paper Mill Equipment

• 2 portable oxyacetylene welding units
• MIG welder
• Plasma cutter
• Horizontal band saw (metal)
• Delta table saw
• 2 floor standing band saws (wood)
• Floor standing drill press
• Chop saw
• 5lb wax melter
• Spray booth
• Reina Hollander beater (2 1/2 lb capacity)
• Whiz mixer
• Stainless steel vacuum table (4'x9')
• Neubauer restriction drying press
• Hydraulic press
• Chain and laid molds video projector
• Hand-tools galore!

Hot Glass Studios

Our facility currently has a two thousand pound capacity continuous melt furnace for clear glass, a 1200 pound capacity furnace for colored glass, three large glory holes and twenty annealing ovens, all computer controlled. This space is part of the National Casting Center which also provides space for metal casting at a facility located just off campus.

Hot Glass Studio Equipment

• One 1200 lb capacity glass furnace for color glass casting
• One 2000 lb capacity continuous feed glass furnace for glassblowing
• Three reheat furnaces (glory holes)
• Five GB 4 temperature controllers
• Ten GB 1 temperature controllers
• Three fully equipped glassblowing stations
• Three bench torches
• Two pick up ovens
• Two garage ovens
• Powder booth
• Three marvers
• Diamond core drill press
• One 14-inch diamond saw
• Diamond lathe
• Three flat roughing mills, 24” and 30”
• Two Turner overhand spindle lathes
• 4 1/2 “ wet portable diamond saw
• 7” wet portable diamond saw
• Six central water feed, 4 1/2” portable wet diamond grinders with diamond and felt pads
• Sandblaster capable of handling 40”x40” panels
• Mortar mixer
• Two wax steamers
• Industrial wax melting pot

Neon Light Studio

The neon studio is well equipped and enables 3 students to bend glass simultaneously. All equipment is consistent with industry standards. The curriculum focuses on sculptural, architectural and experimental applications; however, interest in the fundamentals of lettering and signage is accommodated.

Neon Studio Equipment

• E.G.L. 10KVA bombarding transformer and choke controlled
• 8.5 cubic foot external bombarding oven with electronic temperature controller
• 14' glass-insulating bombarding table
• Two 16" Hyde #580 ribbon burners
• Five point cross fire burner
• Three 7-500 tipping torches
• Two splicing torches
• E.G.L. gas transfer system coupled with a Tschida 30/30 insulux glass manifold

National Casting Center Foundry

The foundry is fully equipped for large-scale aluminum, bronze and iron casting. An induction furnace will provide iron and stainless steel casting opportunities. The mold-making systems used in the foundry are: traditional plaster investment, resin bonded sand and ceramic shell.

The foundry facility is a newly renovated stand-alone-building devoted to cast metals. This building houses two gas fired 200 lb bronze and aluminum furnaces and one VIP Inducto-Therm High Temp. Tilt Furnace for casting iron and stainless steel. This area is the metal half of the National Casting Center with the other half being developed in cast glass. This new facility also has a full stone working facility with cutting, carving, fabricating and polishing options possible for marble and granite stone sculpture. Also, combinations of metal, stone and glass sculpture are encouraged.

Foundry Equipment

• Two 200 lb capacity Speedie Melt Furnaces (Aluminum and Bronze)
• Large car kiln
• Flash burnout kiln
• Large drill press
• Powermatic band saw 20 “ throat
• Industrial wax melting/reclamation pot (10 lb capacity)
• Gas-fired forge and anvil
• Morter mixer
• Chasing and patina area
• Porcelain enameling facility
• Full complement of hand and pneumatic tools

Metal Fabrication

The Metal fabrication studio is well equipped with all processes in welding technology (TIG, MIG, brazing, oxy-acetylene and plasma cutting), metal forging and large blasting room.

Metal Fabrication Equipment

• Large and medium plasma arc cutting
• Cabinet sandblaster
• Large grit blasting room
• AC/DC arc welding
• MIG and TIG welding processes
• Oxyacetylene cutting
• Portable arc welding
• Sandblasting room (12’x20’) with industrial sandblaster
• Small sandblaster capable of handling 40”x40” panels
• Large metal roll
• Large metal shear
• Powermatic band saw 20” throat
• Horizontal band saw
• Hassfeld bender
• Gas-fired forge and anvils
• Large pneumatic hammer
• Overhead chainfalls
• Pedestal grinding station
• Full complement of hand and portable tools

Wood Shop

The wood shop provides an open supervised studio space for all School of Art and Design students to work in wood. All students must complete safety training at the beginning of each academic year to have access to the facility, which has open shop hours, approximately 55 hours a week.

The Wood Shop is a fully equipped wood working facility with two rooms, one housing most of the large stationary equipment including: chop saws, band saws, professional Saw Stop cabinet table saws, drill press, wood lathes, belt, disc, and spindle sanders, a panel saw, 18” capacity planer, and 14” x 8’ joiner. The second room of the wood shop is the general workroom equipped with a dozen large woodworking tables with built in vises, and a large assortment of hand tools, hand held power tools, and wood working clamps. The wood shop also has a steam tube for bending wood.

All equipment is maintained by the shop technicians to provide a safe working atmosphere and the technicians are always available for assistance to ensure safety and enjoyment of time spent in the wood shop.