The Jewelry and Metal Arts program provides students a rich and stimulating environment for the development of their creativity, concepts, and technical skills. Students work freely without media boundaries to produce conceptual and functional jewelry, hollowware, flatware, indoor and outdoor sculpture, mixed media objects, installation pieces, and other functional and non-functional objects.

Our program is known for pioneering the use of new materials, improving and developing cutting edge technologies, and progressive concepts. This leads students to produce a substantial quantity of high-quality work for their professional portfolios, exhibitions, competitions, and publications. Our students’ work has been consistently accepted into numerous national and international competitions, many receiving awards. Outstanding works of the graduates from this program have been acquired by major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Craft Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Design-Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Many of these pieces were produced at the metals studio while the artists were still graduate students.

Program offers BA, BFA, MA, MFA degrees.

Entering graduate students are expected to be self-motivated, skilled in fundamental metalworking techniques, and capable of technical and conceptual exploration and of producing independent work.

Program Emphasis

The program places great emphasis on creativity and originality. The students will develop their personal artistic directions and styles. Students are encouraged to explore progressive concepts, use new materials, and develop new techniques. Students will learn to refine a variety of traditional, contemporary, and innovative metalworking techniques and other media processes.

Students learn through demonstrations, slides, lectures, individual and group discussion/critiques, visiting artists' workshops, reading, and project assignments. Graduate workshop emphasizes portfolio preparation, participation in national and international exhibitions, practicing presentation and teaching skills, marketing experiences, in addition to working toward their professional goals.

In order to give students a broader range of career options, students have the opportunity to use tools such as AutoCAD, Rhino, 3D computer modeling, laser cutting, PhotoShop, and other advanced industrial techniques to create, render, and achieve the layouts of their designs to make one-of-a-kind or production art work. These skills help students working in many other fields as well. One of our most recent acquisitions is the “Dimension SST” 3-D printer (a rapid prototyping machine), this device converts a digital model into a real-world ABS plastic prototype. The plastic form can be used as it exists or can be transformed into metal with processes such as casting and electroforming.

Jewelry and Metal Arts Courses.

Courses 01A:003 Basic Drawing and 01A:004 Design Fundamentals are prerequisites for all Jewelry and Metal Arts courses for art majors; 01A:003 Basic drawing is prerequisite for nonmajors

01G:084 Introduction to Jewelry and Metal Arts

Basic metalworking techniques, including: sheet metal fabrication, hammer forming, hydraulic die forming, soldering, riveting, etching, texturing, roll printing, anodization of aluminum and titanium, stone setting, patination; creation of jewelry, functional, and nonfunctional objects using metals and other materials.

Prerequisites: 01A:003 and 01A:004 for majors, 01B:001 for nonmajors. 3 s.h.

01G:185 Intermediate Jewelry and Metal Arts: Casting and Enameling

The course explores different applications with casting (mostly gold, silver and bronze) enameling, and stone setting. Students are encouraged to combine all three processes in creating their art work. Other processes, such as photo-etching and 3-D computer modeling may be introduced. Historical and current trends in craft will also be included.

Prerequisite: 01G:084. Repeatable. 4 s.h

01G:186 Advanced Jewelry and Metal Arts: Electroforming

The course focuses mainly on the electroforming process. Students can produce a hollow copper structure through prolonged electroplating on a non-metallic form (typically wax) with a conductive coating. It is an excellent way to produce hollowware, vessels, jewelry and sculptural objects. Other metal forming techniques, such as raising and fold forming will be included.

Prerequisite: 01G:084. Recommended 01G:185. Repeatable. 4 s.h.

01G:192 Hand-built Bicycle II

Building on 01T:192 (TDSN:4150); advanced concepts of bicycle frame design and fabrication; concept development, fabrication geometry and design, metal properties and selection, tool selection, brazing and welding, including titanium-milling and how to build a frame jig; emphasis on applying fabrication skills while situating frame building project within context of a design problem.

Prerequisite: 01T:192. 4 s.h.

01B:040 Elements of Jewelry and Metal Arts

Fundamental 3-D design principles and appreciation of contemporary jewelry and metal art works; techniques and materials in jewelry and metal arts; experimentation with diverse media.

Prerequisites: None 3 s.h.

01G:190 Undergraduate Individual Instruction

Individual instruction in metalsmithing and jewelry for advanced undergraduate students.

Prerequisites: consent of instructor. 1-3 s.h.

01G:240 Individual Instruction in Jewelry and Metal Arts

Individual instruction in metalsmithing and jewelry for graduate students.

Prerequisites: consent of instructor. 1-3 s.h.