The Degree Project involves a semester of guided, but essentially independent study to test the student's ability to design and successfully complete a substantial, comprehensive body of work. A Degree Project Proposal is submitted at the end of Wintersession in February. Each senior's body of work is ultimately presented in a Printmaking Degree Project Exhibition in the Woods-Gerry Gallery at the end of the semester. In addition, this course works in tandem with last semester's Senior Degree Project: Seminar topics. Accordingly, a Degree Project Final Folder is also submitted containing, DP Proposal, Final Statement, Resume, Artist Statement, and images of Degree Project work. It is important to note that the Printmaking Degree Project follows grant procedure, thus, its potential value to the graduated senior with a Printmaking BFA degree in the professional realm.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Enrollment is limited to Senior Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Printmaking

Strategies for analysis and documentation are presented and discussed as students combine their research and reflections on their own evolving production into an illustrated, written thesis that organizes, focuses, and articulates their ideas. Artist's books, online publications and other formats will be explored. Intensive support for development and production of the thesis in relation to studio practice will be given.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate Printmaking Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Printmaking

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to intaglio printmaking, with a primary focus on developing technical skills and image-making abilities. Students will explore traditional and contemporary approaches to intaglio processes, including drypoint, hard ground, soft ground, and aquatint. Through hands-on demonstrations, guided studio practice, and individual experimentation, participants will learn how to translate their visual ideas into prints with depth, texture, and tonal variation.

The class will emphasize technical proficiency, process-based learning, and creative problem-solving through the printmaking medium. Students will build a body of work that reflects their understanding of the materials, tools, and expressive potential of intaglio. Instruction will be supported by group discussions, critiques, and visits to print collections and exhibitions.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

The aim of this course is to introduce relief printmaking and its deep historical contexts and evolution over time, in order to develop visual narratives that speculate on reality and form forward-thinking/conjecture. Referencing graphic novels, works of speculative fiction, and contemporary artists and researchers working across disciplines, we will gain insight into the diverse visual languages used to navigate uncharted territories and uncertain phenomena. How can contemporary visual storytelling influence realities and inform futures? We will explore relief printmaking in its physical and theoretical contexts and its role in dissemination of information, mass production, digital media and contemporary culture.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $125.00

Elective

This course focuses on how humans use energy and how our needs can be met using green methods. We will briefly cover the energy of the past (wood, coal, water, animal etc.), alternatives to this energy (nuclear, fuel cells, biofuel etc.) as well as the renewing of some old techniques (wind, water, solar etc.) The goals of this course are threefold:

(1) To understand how and why humans currently use energy

(2) To understand how traditional energy production has been used to satisfy these needs and how alternative energy addresses the same needs

(3) To develop innovative alternatives to traditional energy production or uses.

This course will include a final project design solution to an aspect of one of the energy issues touched on in class. Two field trips will be scheduled to view alternative energy in action. No prior science background is required.

Elective

The name Moshassuck, or Mooshausick in the language of the Narragansett people, refers to the place where moose water. This 12-mile-long, urban river flows through the heart of Providence, where it joins the salt waters of Narragansett Bay. Do you know this river? Have you wondered what life could be found along the banks or in the water? This course will be focused on the many plant species that, despite the imposition of urban construction and inputs of pollution into the waters, grow along the banks and within the built infrastructure, changing the river, and providing habitat to many forms of life wherever possible. We will follow the Moshassuck, from its origins in the state’s only area of limestone, through ponds, over dams, and through the cannalized confines of the river’s flow through Pawtucket and Providence. Our goal will be to document the plant species, their locations, and the changes taking place within the human built infrastructure as a result of their existence.

Elective

We frequently hear about animal (and plant) species that become common nuisances in urban areas, and we hear about how natural habitat loss leads to the disappearance of other species-not to mention the emergence of new diseases. This course will approach the area of urban ecology from a natural science perspective. We will learn about a broad variety of North American organisms (vertebrate, invertebrate, plant and pathogen), from diverse habitat types, and their ecological patterns and processes with regard to urbanization. We will also conduct field experiments to evaluate certain patterns in our greater Providence landscape for ourselves. Ultimately, how do urban wildlife patterns affect the lives of our species, Homo sapiens? Coursework will include frequent readings, outdoor field trips, observational chronicling and group discussions.

Elective

This course examines the form and function of the vertebrate body using a comparative approach. We will study the following anatomical structures and how they work by comparing them across vertebrate animals: eye/vision, ear/hearing, nose/smell, throat/taste, teeth and jaws/chewing, heart/circulation, lung/oxygen exchange, intestinal tract/digestion, kidneys/protein and electrolyte balance, musculoskeletal system/locomotion, lymph tissue/immune system, reproductive tract/reproduction, and the brain and spinal cord/nervous system. Reference animals will include those for which anatomy is best-known, including humans, dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens, bullfrogs, and salmon. Each session will begin with an examination of the structure of an anatomical region followed by an exploration of its function, including movements and processes in example species. For their final project, students will be encouraged to explore a highly developed or specialized form and its function, such how kangaroos jump, how octopuses see, and how giant pandas digest bamboo. Through this course, we will demystify and develop an appreciation for the wondrous complexity of the vertebrate body and its role in art and design. This is a lecture-style course that includes in-class discussion, research and activities. Course work includes weekly readings and written responses, a series of completed anatomical sketches, and a final project.

Elective

For much of what we in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere call winter, the trees around us appear lifeless. But are they? Dormancy in trees is a slowing of metabolic function, brought on and maintained by a combination of temperature and day length. Each species has a different response. The shortest day of the year marks a turning point for the plant world, as from that pivotal point day length steadily increases. So what are trees doing in January and February? How do they mark the passage of time, and know when to awaken? During the five-weeks of Wintersession, you will regularly observe and sketch a single tree, from root to bud. Through close observation you will come to understand your tree and how its various parts function in all weather. Class lectures and reading will inform your observations. In addition, samples of a variety of species will be brought inside so we can observe their responses to warmer temperatures. Each species' response will be documented through sketches and measurements of change in bud size, and emersion of leaf and/or flower. By observing the response of different species to increases in ambient temperature, we will become more informed about the implications of dramatic fluctuations in winter temperatures for trees in the future.

Elective

Did you know that the red signals of traffic lights are inspired by the warning colors found in red species in nature? Nature is rich with messages conveyed through visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and even chemical signals; yet humans often overlook them. This interdisciplinary course invites art and design students to explore how understanding these natural messages can inspire more regenerative creative practices.

Through discussions, readings, and observational experiments, we will investigate the evolution of communication and ecological interactions in nature and their influence on art and design. Hands-on activities at the Nature Lab and in natural environments around Providence will provide opportunities to engage directly with the world’s inherent systems of communication. Students will also explore how cultural ecological perspectives shape interpretations of nature’s signals and synthesize their learning into a final visual and written project.

This course encourages curiosity and openness to observing and interpreting nature’s messages, fostering creative practices rooted in sustainability, cultural understanding, and scientific principles. No prior science background is required. Whether you’re sketching patterns, designing systems, or crafting narratives, this course will help you bridge the gap between art, design, and the natural world.

Elective

The development of new biodegradable materials is a crucial step in creating a sustainable future, but what processes are involved in making these materials and what role can fine artists play in their creation? In this hands-on course, we will delve into the essential techniques for producing biomaterials while emphasizing play and experimentation. Within the context of the lab and the studio, we explore three specific biomaterials: algae (sodium alginate), kombucha leather, and bioconcrete. Students will explore these materials through sculptural processes including but not limited to moldmaking, slipcasting, and wet forming. This class will familiarize students with established techniques while emphasizing experimentation, creating opportunities to develop new methods and materials. This class will visit the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab and the Materials Collection within the Visual + Material Resource Center to gain an understanding of natural materials and existing biomaterial innovations. As an important and growing field in both regenerative design and contemporary art, students will be prompted to consider sustainability, environmental stewardship, and material sourcing within their practice. Through practical hands-on instruction, this course will demystify biomaterial processes. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the knowledge needed to continue biomaterial experimentation with confidence.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $30.00

Elective

Using exclusively cardboard, we will spend this class building diverse technical competence.

Through a combination of technical demos and presentations of artistic and cultural references, we will teach students to build with cardboard. We will draw upon various legacies including figure sculpting, architectural modeling, and paper-making. By teaching students how soaking, carving, and laminating cardboard can shift its properties we will emphasize how treating a material can completely overturn its applications.

Each class will end with a brief improvisational making exercise—group or individual—that introduces the skills and activities we will cover in following demonstrations. By using improvisational scores, derived from theatrical and choreographic devices, we will find the functional and spontaneous expression of techniques demonstrated in class. These scores will be prompt based, inspired by artistic practices such as Richard Serra’s Verb List. Designed to put you in new situations, these frameworks will playfully invigorate the possibilities you experience in your work with cardboard (and, by extension, other materials).

Throughout the term, we will present on artists and projects that push the boundaries of cardboard, including Chris Gilmour, Warren King, Shigeru Ban and Ann Weber and the movie Dave Made a Maze (2017). With weekly assignments, students will be expected to bend, break, and combine the methods we’ve offered them.

With the optional inclusion of supplementary materials, the final project will serve as an opportunity to explore these ideas of lateral thinking and improvisation on a larger scale, or through more involved methods.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $65.00

Elective

Collaging materials can provide a fresh perspective and enhance the significance of sculpture. In this course, participants will examine various techniques for binding materials to create new narratives, paying careful attention to the implications of their material choices and techniques in the context of their artwork and interests. Selected readings and discussions will emphasize the role of materials and techniques in conveying meaning, as well as how different presentation contexts influence interpretation.

Students will begin by assembling a collection of materials to establish an archive tailored to their interests and practices. This process will involve considering the source context, social implications, and the evolving identity of the artwork once exhibited. From this archive, students will develop a sculpture utilizing a chosen selection of materials. Workshop demonstrations will cover assembling materials through sewing, latching, drilling, slicing, riveting, and wrapping.

The course will conclude with a final sculpture project, during which students will participate in a peer critique session. Additionally, each student will present their material archive list along with an extended description of their piece, articulating its conceptual and material significance.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

In this class, we will delve into the realm of digital design and fabrication, specifically within the context of contemporary art. We will primarily focus on exploring the varied potential of sculptural techniques using a Digital Plotter, Laser Cutter and 3D Printers. Through the use of CAD software, digital tools and traditional making practices, students will enhance their comprehension of how to incorporate digital fabrication into their own art practice.

While our course content revolves around acquiring highly technical skills, its core goes beyond mere technicality. Our objective is not to achieve mastery in a particular software application or fabrication technology. Instead, we aim to cultivate a flexible knowledge of how to adeptly employ a few fundamental digital fabrication processes within one's artistic studio.

Students are expected to investigate each skill-set by way of experimentation and research, extending their practice well beyond scheduled class time. It is crucial that students make time outside the scheduled meetings to develop familiarity with the processes and tools taught in class and continue to develop knowledge outside of class.

Sophomore Sculpture students have registration priority followed by all other Sculpture students. Non-majors require department permission to register via the Request Course Section Prerequisite Override task.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $300.00

Elective

This hands-on course introduces the fundamentals of mold making and casting, with an emphasis on experimentation and iterative problem-solving as essential to the process. Students will work with plaster and other easy-to-use mold making and casting materials to explore one-part and simple textural molds, direct modeling with oil clay, and basic casting techniques. The course builds toward more complex flexible mold systems—particularly with silicone rubber—while addressing key challenges like undercuts and scale. Alongside technical instruction, students will examine contemporary uses of casting in art and develop the skills to confidently adapt mold making techniques to suit their evolving studio practices.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $300.00

Elective

This course is structured according the notion that artists can use what is on hand to research and craft simple solutions to the complex physical, mechanical, and technical problems that must be routinely addressed in their making practices. This material and process based, hands-on, research studio will be structured in response to the issues that the advanced fine arts student is grappling with on a regular basis. Many of the issues that arise in the process of making provide the opportunity to transcend perceived material-based boundaries and thinking. Some of the questions this course attends to include: How do you defy gravity? How do you generate the hidden components required to physicalize the thing we can see in our mind's eye? How is the magic we need to create our work scalable to the resources we have readily available? Example working processes include: mig welding, tig welding, casting for prototyping, woodworking, and mold making. This course is open to juniors, seniors and graduate-level students. Please contact the instructor directly for permission to register.

Elective

In this course, students will spend a semester immersed in the metal shop creating performative works that incorporate elements of steel. We will practice metal fabrication skills such as welding, cutting, forging, and bending. We will explore the performative capacity of the fabricated steel objects through lectures, presentations, process critiques and improvisation. The course begins with a series of exercises that will build an object-based performance language. The second stage of the course will focus on the development of a performance work that incorporates a fabricated steel element as an essential ingredient to the performance. The course will culminate in a public performance.

No performance experience or metal shop experience necessary.

Sophomore Sculpture students have registration priority followed by all other Sculpture students. Non-majors require department permission to register via the Request Course Section Prerequisite Override task.

Elective

Building on technologies covered in Digital Design and Fabrication, this studio will explore relationships between digital fabrication, traditional sculptural and craft processes. Students will research and develop approaches to making that blend emerging fabrication technologies with traditional sculptural techniques including woodworking, metalworking, and casting. Students will leverage existing skillsets and departmental resources to both augment and invent methods of fabrication that complement their research and studio interests. The course will explore intermediate / advanced 3d modeling, 3d capture, robotics, and additive/subtractive fabrication techniques using both departmental and campus resources.

Through weekly slide presentations, readings and class discussions, students will be introduced to a broad range of artistic approaches, practices and communities merging technology and craft. Rhino 3D will be used as the primary CAD tool and students will need to provide their own laptop with Rhino installed.

The semester will be divided into a series of skill-building exercises, each blending digital tools with ‘traditional’ craft processes, and will culminate in a final project incorporating Digital Craft into an existing project and/or research interest. We will be utilizing the Sculpture department’s digital resources (Collaborative Robot, CNC Router, 3D Scanner, 3D Printers) in combination with woodworking, casting and metalworking* facilities.

This course, although technical in nature, is not technical in spirit. Our goal is not the mastery of any one software application or fabrication technology, but instead to gain an understanding of how to effectively leverage digital processes and tools in one’s studio. Success in this course requires resourcefulness, openness, and a willingness to collaborate. Depending on your existing skill set, it may be at times necessary to augment in-class demonstrations, with self-directed research and learning.

Elective

Advanced Critical Issues Seminar 2 introduces a rigorous theoretical framework for thinking and writing about contemporary sculpture practice. Each seminar develops from a specific theme drawing on research from Grad Critical Issues 1, current debates in the field and contemporary events. Past seminars include: Artificial Natures, Precarious Relations, Frankenstein and Crime, Vanishing Points, as examples. Trespassing across sculpture, performance, cinema, fiction, feminist, queer, race and political theory and back again, we will address writings by Walter Benjamin, Lauren Berlant, Judith Butler, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, Maggie Nelson, Claudia Rankine, Jacques Rancire (as examples) in conversation with contemporary artists writings and projects to cultivate a conceptual grammar to extend to our studio practice. Approaching issues in contemporary sculpture through these discursive perspectives generates new strategies simultaneously material, conceptual, and critical.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

Graduate Sculpture Critique II/IV builds upon topics discussed in the previous semesters during graduate critique I/III. It continues its form as a discussion-based, collaborative critique seminar that makes space for multiple voices and ways of being in community; foregrounding and supporting the burgeoning artistic practices represented in and across the grad cohorts. This course builds upon the intellectual and artistic intimacy among cohort mates and between cohorts established in the first semester of each year. The risk-taking, question-asking, and reimagining of predetermined boundaries in the second semesters yields new critique and research methodologies that in the case of first year grads supports the lead up to their summer studio intensive or residencies. In the case of second year grads, this semester of intensive critiques supports their capstone thesis presentation and the group critiques and final thesis committee meetings that characterize the end of their work at RISD. As a practice in need of continual commitment, students are asked with great intention to continue to expand the discussion around intersectionality, interstitially, and interdisciplinarity and how the space between things comes to bear on the method of critique.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture