Undergraduate Studies
Bachelor of Fine Art in Metal
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metal offers students the ways and means to be professional metalsmiths and jewelers. This broadly based metal program also includes opportunities to concentrate in a particular area of the metal field. Students are exposed to a full range of technical processes that could apply to small and large-scale work, such as jewelry or sculptural forms in metal. The BFA Metal student is expected to complete a comprehensive plan of study, which gives the student a thorough knowledge of the Metal field. Early emphasis is on skill development and aesthetic understanding, followed by increasing awareness of critical issues and historical grounding of the metal and jewelry field. These goals are supported by a curriculum of technically based classes, and assignments are structured to address techniques, content and form. These classes have a substantial amount of demonstrations, slide lectures and discussions addressing specific technical practice. Once the student has moved through these technical classes, one begins to focus on developing conceptual and formal sophistication in individual work. The capstone experience is a show of work produced in the Senior Studio, and included in a group exhibition in the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, on campus.
The Metal program is directed by Professor Jamie Bennett and Professor Myra Mimlitsch-Gray . It has a richly supplemented curriculum. Recent field trips include participation in professional conferences in Boston and Richmond, and visits to museums and galleries in NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago. There is an extensive visiting artist program within Metal. Recent participants include: Bettina Dittlmann, Lisa Gralnick, Gary Griffin, Dan Jocz, Daniel Kruger, Lisa Norton, Gary Noffke, Keith Lewis, Sondra Sherman, Joe Wood. We have also invited numerous writers, critics and curators, including: Ken Ames, Mary Douglas, Dave Hickey, David Levi Strauss, Ken Trapp, and Sienna Patti, among others. Our students are actively committed to involvement in the Student Art Alliance, an organization which supports visiting artists, travel and other creative project proposals from the various Programs within the Department. The SAA creates greater opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange.
Students graduating from the SUNY, New Paltz Metal Program have achieved a high success rate in this field. Many go on to attend nationally regarded graduate programs, others begin their own business doing production work, and others are employed by established jewelers and metal artists. Senior Art Seminar and Contemporary Ideas in Metal help to prepare students for life after graduation, by addressing practical, professional issues and concerns for artists.
The strength of this BFA Metal curriculum is that it gives the students an opportunity to work in a state of the art facility with faculty that are active artists, who are internationally recognized. The program is designed to give the student both breadth and depth, at the point in time they are prepared for it. They also benefit from being in a program with one of the largest graduate metal programs in the country, which is highly regarded by the profession.
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science with a Concentration in Metal
Visual Arts Majors may pursue Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees with a concentration in Metal: please refer to Visual Arts for more information about the BA/BS Plan of Study. Please refer to the Undergraduate Studies Catalogue for specific information about the Plan of Study, course descriptions and admission requirements. Contact Admissions for application information.
