The Spring semester of Sophomore Sculpture Studio is organized to continue training students to workshop their ideas and concepts while learning basic materials and processes of the sculpture studio. In this department we teach visual vocabulary on the basic principle of, Thinking while making and making while thinking. Advancing from basic fabrication methods learned in the previous semester, students will progress into workshops in modeling, molding and casting. Students will learn the basic language of form through the lens of basic mold-making methods working in wax, plaster and clay advancing to contemporary silicones and plastics. This workshop will culminate with lost wax ceramic shell casting in our foundry.

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

The Spring semester of Sophomore Sculpture Studio is organized to continue training students to workshop their ideas and concepts while learning basic materials and processes of the sculpture studio. In this department we teach visual vocabulary on the basic principle of, Thinking while making and making while thinking. Advancing from basic fabrication methods learned in the previous semester, students will progress into workshops in modeling, molding and casting. Students will learn the basic language of form through the lens of basic mold-making methods working in wax, plaster and clay advancing to contemporary silicones and plastics. This workshop will culminate with lost wax ceramic shell casting in our foundry.

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

The final semester in the MFA Sculpture Program is structured around the development of a written thesis and culminating in a body of work, components of which may be exhibited as part of the school-wide MFA Thesis Exhibition. This work is nurtured by tutorial studio visits with faculty, visiting artists, and thesis committee members during the run of the semester.

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

Major Requirement | MFA Sculpture

This is a hands-on studio course focusing on three-dimensional object making, primarily working with wood as a medium. We develop an integration of intuitive approaches and structured processes through direct engagement with the materials. In addition to guiding the student through the various technical hurdles encountered as the projects unfold, an equal stress is placed on the development of the ideas and intent - and those ideas successfully expressed through the materials and its manipulation. At critical times, a slide presentation is given, followed by a general, open discussion on the relevant topics and how they relate to the class.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Elective

Sculptural Practices I will take students through three major practices that are essential to the study of Sculpture -- metal fabrication, woodworking and photography/videography. This course is designed to work in tandem with ‘Sophomore Sculpture Studio’ and ‘Sophomore Seminar’. Each section will serve as an introduction to the fundamental ideas within each practice, including artist references, relevant material resources, vocabulary, tools/equipment, and general safety protocol. Students are expected to investigate each skill-set by way of experimentation and research, extending their practice beyond scheduled class time in order to develop familiarity with the processes taught in class. Students can expect to learn proficiency in these skills as well as gain a deeper understanding of the contents of the Sculpture toolkit. They will be encouraged to revisit these processes and tools over and over again throughout their own development. Additionally, they can expand their knowledge through focused studio electives offered in Spring of Sophomore year and in their Junior and Senior years. This course is a requirement for all Sophomore Sculpture majors.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Sculptural Practices I will take students through three major practices that are essential to the study of Sculpture -- metal fabrication, woodworking and photography/videography. This course is designed to work in tandem with ‘Sophomore Sculpture Studio’ and ‘Sophomore Seminar’. Each section will serve as an introduction to the fundamental ideas within each practice, including artist references, relevant material resources, vocabulary, tools/equipment, and general safety protocol. Students are expected to investigate each skill-set by way of experimentation and research, extending their practice beyond scheduled class time in order to develop familiarity with the processes taught in class. Students can expect to learn proficiency in these skills as well as gain a deeper understanding of the contents of the Sculpture toolkit. They will be encouraged to revisit these processes and tools over and over again throughout their own development. Additionally, they can expand their knowledge through focused studio electives offered in Spring of Sophomore year and in their Junior and Senior years. This course is a requirement for all Sophomore Sculpture majors.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

This seminar connects sophomore Sculpture majors to significant parts of the ever-expanding discipline of contemporary sculpture. Over the semester the class will explore how methods of artistic production, materials of artistic transformation, and practices of makers participating in various artistic movements have created and sustained the conversations so integral to contemporary sculptural practice. Through a series of film screenings, assigned readings, slide talks, and discussions, students will gain a familiarity with the historic events and trajectories that continue to produce associative canons and relational movements, forming the foundation of their chosen discipline. The course trajectory is coordinated with topics covered in Sculptural Practices I and II and Sophomore Sculpture: Studio I.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

This seminar connects sophomore Sculpture majors to significant parts of the ever-expanding discipline of contemporary sculpture. Over the semester the class will explore how methods of artistic production, materials of artistic transformation, and practices of makers participating in various artistic movements have created and sustained the conversations so integral to contemporary sculptural practice. Through a series of film screenings, assigned readings, slide talks, and discussions, students will gain a familiarity with the historic events and trajectories that continue to produce associative canons and relational movements, forming the foundation of their chosen discipline. The course trajectory is coordinated with topics covered in Sculptural Practices I and II and Sophomore Sculpture: Studio I.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Sophomore Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

In Junior Research Studio students will be guided through a series of experiences and encounters in the community, at large that help them understand the local manifestations of larger systems. Along the way, we will ask questions and learn inquiry methods that enable an understanding of how these encounters, the conversations they spawn, and assigned readings we take on help anchor, shape, and guide the aesthetic, material, and media choices we make in our artwork. A continuation of the use of research methods in the context of a studio setting is exercised individually and in groups. Reflection is used as a tool for development. Students are challenged to explore relationships between chosen materials, subject matter, processes, and display in order to establish research practices that help them make the work they want to make.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Junior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

In Junior Research Studio students will be guided through a series of experiences and encounters in the community, at large that help them understand the local manifestations of larger systems. Along the way, we will ask questions and learn inquiry methods that enable an understanding of how these encounters, the conversations they spawn, and assigned readings we take on help anchor, shape, and guide the aesthetic, material, and media choices we make in our artwork. A continuation of the use of research methods in the context of a studio setting is exercised individually and in groups. Reflection is used as a tool for development. Students are challenged to explore relationships between chosen materials, subject matter, processes, and display in order to establish research practices that help them make the work they want to make.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $200.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Junior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Sculpture Seminar II: Visual and Critical Literacies is the fourth sequential course in the Sculpture curriculum centered on research and coordinated with the content of the major studio courses. These research courses are designed to excite student learning through the practice of critical and engaged pedagogy in art history, material histories, research methods, representation, and what “counts” as artist research. Course content has been selected precisely to support the understanding of how critical literacy impacts a creative practice. De-material practices like reading, thinking, moving, and speaking can merge with, bend around, and twist through material practices.

Sculpture Seminar II: Visual and Critical Literacies is an intermediary level course which follows Junior Research Studio where students have learned about field research and the local manifestations of larger systems. The design of this seminar is to facilitate and support the study of themes relevant to art practices and conversations today. Through a series of readings, films, classroom discussion, group, and independent work, students learn to contextualize myriad discourses using the frames of art history, critical theory, philosophy, ethics, and politics. In this studio-centered seminar, students will develop critical literacy that is applicable to their working practices and the attendant process of using materials to make meaning. This course supports discourse around the formation of the artist in an effort to figure out meaningful strategies for the development and maintenance of sustainable artistic and intellectual practices.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Sculpture Seminar II: Visual and Critical Literacies is the fourth sequential course in the Sculpture curriculum centered on research and coordinated with the content of the major studio courses. These research courses are designed to excite student learning through the practice of critical and engaged pedagogy in art history, material histories, research methods, representation, and what “counts” as artist research. Course content has been selected precisely to support the understanding of how critical literacy impacts a creative practice. De-material practices like reading, thinking, moving, and speaking can merge with, bend around, and twist through material practices.

Sculpture Seminar II: Visual and Critical Literacies is an intermediary level course which follows Junior Research Studio where students have learned about field research and the local manifestations of larger systems. The design of this seminar is to facilitate and support the study of themes relevant to art practices and conversations today. Through a series of readings, films, classroom discussion, group, and independent work, students learn to contextualize myriad discourses using the frames of art history, critical theory, philosophy, ethics, and politics. In this studio-centered seminar, students will develop critical literacy that is applicable to their working practices and the attendant process of using materials to make meaning. This course supports discourse around the formation of the artist in an effort to figure out meaningful strategies for the development and maintenance of sustainable artistic and intellectual practices.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Building on the methods of research and synthesis learned in Junior Sculpture: Research Studio, this is an intensive semester designed to strengthen students’ knowledge of professional practices for maintaining a creative practice past graduation. Students will develop a packet of materials which include a portfolio of work, artist statement, resume, and artist CV. This course will advance their research into a range of opportunities specific to the discipline of sculpture and their own individuated practices. 
 
Each week students will be introduced to a variety of resources and skills necessary in preparing for upcoming and future opportunities such as residencies, granting organizations, graduate schools and fellowships. Additionally, topics of exhibiting works in various spaces such as galleries (artist-run, for-profit, university, etc.), museums, alternative art organizations and public art venues will be presented. There will also be workshops for preparing project budgets, archival storage of work and formatting for digital organization. This seminar aims to give students a strong foundation for professional practices prior to their final semester at RISD so they can focus on their body of work in Senior Degree Project and feel prepared to graduate.   

Estimated Cost of Materials: $300.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Senior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Building on the methods of research and synthesis learned in Junior Sculpture: Research Studio, this is an intensive semester designed to strengthen students’ knowledge of professional practices for maintaining a creative practice past graduation. Students will develop a packet of materials which include a portfolio of work, artist statement, resume, and artist CV. This course will advance their research into a range of opportunities specific to the discipline of sculpture and their own individuated practices. 
 
Each week students will be introduced to a variety of resources and skills necessary in preparing for upcoming and future opportunities such as residencies, granting organizations, graduate schools and fellowships. Additionally, topics of exhibiting works in various spaces such as galleries (artist-run, for-profit, university, etc.), museums, alternative art organizations and public art venues will be presented. There will also be workshops for preparing project budgets, archival storage of work and formatting for digital organization. This seminar aims to give students a strong foundation for professional practices prior to their final semester at RISD so they can focus on their body of work in Senior Degree Project and feel prepared to graduate.   

Estimated Cost of Materials: $300.00

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Senior Sculpture Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Students are expected to continue the independent work developed in the fall senior studio. Over the course of the degree project semester students will present their work in the context of Duet shows. These "Duets" will be accompanied by a short video-taped interview between the partners based upon vetted questions germane to each others work. Seniors are expected to produce a significant group of work commensurate with the departments senior degree level criteria.

Prerequisite: Senior Sculpture Students must be in Good Academic Standing.

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

Students are expected to continue the independent work developed in the fall senior studio. Over the course of the degree project semester students will present their work in the context of Duet shows. These "Duets" will be accompanied by a short video-taped interview between the partners based upon vetted questions germane to each others work. Seniors are expected to produce a significant group of work commensurate with the departments senior degree level criteria.

Prerequisite: Senior Sculpture Students must be in Good Academic Standing.

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

Major Requirement | BFA Sculpture

This project-based course explores the role of sound in storytelling, research, and artistic expression. Students will engage in hands-on field recording, critical listening, and curating thematic sound archives, using these collections to create narrative-driven audio projects. Through readings and discussions, students will explore key theories in sonic arts, sound design, and sound studies, integrating these concepts into their work. The course encourages interdisciplinary collaboration, connecting sound with visual arts, literature, and digital media. Dialogues on contemporary issues in sound, such as its social and cultural impact, will be central to the learning process. By the end of the course, students will have developed a body of work that demonstrates technical skill and proficiency in creative storytelling using sound.

Elective

Spatial Audio focuses on the creation of immersive 3-D sound experiences. In this course, students analyze and explore how the sensation of space is activated in the listener by making works using spatial audio techniques. These methods include high order ambisonics, vector-based amplitude panning, multichannel surround, and binaural audio, among others. Throughout the semester, a series of exercises addressing technical and theoretical issues provide students with the necessary experience to produce midterm and final projects. Coursework involves computational approaches to sound design and composition with instruction in the audio programming language Max and digital audio workstation Reaper. Students have recurring access to a 25-channel loudspeaker array for the development of works. Readings from psychology, philosophy, the arts, and sound studies support class discussions and critiques. Students will need a laptop computer (Mac or Windows). Previous experience with digital audio software recommended.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $100.00

Elective

Modular synthesizers offer a tactile approach to sound production that is consistently inventive by design. Emerging from the 1960s counterculture, they are a product of expansive thinking that challenged conventions in both instrument design and creative practice. Six decades later, the limits of possibility only increased. In Modular Synthesis Studio, we will learn and apply concepts of voltage controlled synthesizers to creative coding and embedded computing platforms. Imbued with the spirit of community, together we will design and build a one-of-a-kind RISD modular synthesizer by semester end, while also creating new sound-based works with the system. Assignments in this studio course will involve creative projects, class presentations, readings, and module fabrication. The class will provide students with a strong foundation in modular synthesis, audio programming languages, and the skills to develop physical and software instruments relating to their personal creative practices.

Students should bring a laptop computer and wired headphones to class.
Experience with programming and/or modular synthesizers recommended but not required.

Elective

This course introduces the student to a wide variety of materials and processes involved in the production of both hand and industrially produced textiles. Topics include fiber properties and identification, spinning and yarn construction, natural and synthetic dyeing, traditional textile constructions and new technologies. Both historical and contemporary examples are studied, ranging from textiles in design to fine arts textiles. Class time is divided between lecture and lab work. Lectures are supplemented with readings, workshops and museum visits. Students conduct research on a class related topic of their choice and give presentations about their subject. Each student also prepares spinning and dyeing samples to be presented in an individual archive.

This course is a requirement for Sophomore Textiles Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Textiles