The Design Arts Annex hosts a variety of shops for large-scale making projects, including an extensive woodshop, a metal shop, spaces for moldmaking and casting, two large-format CNC routers, and large multipurpose classrooms. The shops support sophisticated making across the Visual Studies sculpture curriculum and the Furniture Design courses offered by Interior Design, as well as facilitating thesis projects and other special topics courses focused on hands-on making.

All the shop spaces require basic safety training before students may use them. This training is offered as part of every class taught in the shops. Additional training is offered on a case-by-case basis, depending on staff availability and schedule.

The Annex shops are staffed throughout the work week, as well as evening and weekend hours, to support students in completing their projects.

STUDIOS

Woodshop

At the heart of the woodshop is our SawStop Industrial Cabinet Saw with an extended tabletop and undermount router station. Stationary tools include a miter saw, four bandsaws, drill press, and sanding equipment. A 12” jointer and 20” planer allow our furniture students to mill their own hardwoods. We offer a wide range of powered and analog hand tools.

Metal + Sculpture Shops

Our metal and sculpture facilities are made up of:

• The Metal Shop: two MIG welding stations, plasma cutter, drill press, saws and sanders
• The Metal Forming Room: for cutting, bending, and rolling steel
• The Sculpture Room: for casting preparation and plaster pours
• The Resource Room: holds a range of powered and analog tools for sculpting processes

CNC Room

The Annex houses two large-format CNC routers managed by the Hybrid Making Lab. These machines can accommodate 4’ x 8’ sheets of wood, plastic, or foam up to 4” thick. One router is equipped with a deep-Z machine that can cut material up to 12” thick in three dimensions.

CLASSES OFFERED

Multimedia Materials

This course augments the design studio experiences by introducing the influence of material characteristics and fabrication techniques. Students learn how to design projects, reduce them to specific parts, make and assemble the work in a coordinated sequence.

Sculpture I, II, and III

This course focuses on idea development, the creative application of materials and process, and introducing basic wood and metal working tools and techniques. Projects bring these elements together with an emphasis on investigating new media and developing critical dialogue as it pertains to discussing and evaluating artwork.

Metal Fabrication

This specialized course teaches welding and metal fabrication techniques that students use to develop a series of projects. Students also experiment with alternative material combinations and investigate the use of metal in contemporary sculpture.

CNC Fabrication

This course approaches sculpture through the use of computerized (CNC) routers, using these digital fabrication tools to create three-dimensional objects in a variety of materials. Course projects are designed to give students familiarity with a variety of processes, materials, and ideas pertinent to making art in three dimensions. Additionally, the course will give students hands-on experience designing for, programming, setting up, and operating Westphal’s CNC routers.

Furniture Design

Covers design of environmental elements, simultaneous concerns with craftsmanship and the application of materials to ideas, and development of prototypes.

Space/Time

Applies contemporary ideas of art making. Explores concepts and how they can be processed within the art genre. Requires continual-process art, idea art, or conceptual art.