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• A well equipped studio with a broad technical capability and individual toolkits for each student
• A curriculum which balances the building of solid technical skills and the posing of conceptual challenges
• An extensive image database of professional and student work
• Integration into a broad-based, comprehensive fine arts curriculum
• Proximity to the Seattle area, which is nationally known as a creative center of art jewelry
• Study with a prominent instructor with an international exhibition record and close and extensive relations with many professionals and professional organizations |
The Jewelry/Metals emphasis in the CWU Department of Art focuses on the technical development of skills and the conceptual understanding of contemporary jewelry and metalsmithing in the context of historical practice and the larger context of the crafts and the fine arts. At the introductory level this offers the foundation for more advanced exploration as well as an informed level of awareness in students who do not pursue further instruction.
While establishing a solid technical base of skills through a succession of process-focused courses, the overarching goal of the intermediate and advanced levels of instruction is to allow the student to develop a distinctive, effective, intelligent and emotionally honest body of work. Instruction and contextualization will focus on contemporary academic and gallery-based work. The sequence is not intended to provide pre-professional training for careers in the commercial jewelry field, though the technical training could certainly facilitate that goal.
In addition to developing their personal body of work, students are encouraged to develop a solid relationship with the field by joining professional organizations, attending symposia and conferences and submitting their own work for exhibition.
The Jewelry/Metals studio at CWU is well equipped for ordinary Jewelry/Metals fabrication and also features a number of more specialized processes and pieces of equipment.
A recent health/safety upgrade has resulted in a Jewelry/Metals studio with updated and custom-designed safety equipment, including excellent ventilation a fume/particle handling equipment.
- Toolkits: Students are assigned pre-assembled toolkits for each class. These toolkits contain all of the essential hand tools needed for ordinary work. The studio has a total of 52 toolkits.
- Supplies: A number of expendable supplies such as selected metals, abrasives, chemicals etc. are provided in the studio. In addition, students can purchase other supplies at the University Bookstore.
- Soldering: Four fully equipped soldering stations with slot hoods, Smith-torches and accessories, pickle-pot.
- Casting: Burn-out kiln with fully-automated kiln-controller, vacuum-debubbilizer and casting unit, centrifugal casting machine, vulcanizer, wax-injector, waxes, wax tools, assorted specialized tools.
- Enameling: Three enameling kilns and two single-point electronic kiln controllers,
full line of Thompson lead-free enamels, kiln trivets and grates, specialized
enamel tools and supplies- including limoges, cloisonné and plique-a-jour supplies
and tools, oils, binders, oxides, and foils.
- Etching: Capability to do nitric acid, ferric chloride and ferric nitrate etching, bubbilizer tank for ferric chloride etching, resists, mordants.
- Ventilated hot-patina station.
- Electroplating: Electroplating rectifier with solutions, electrodes and equipment for silver and gold electroplating.
- Polishing: Two two-station filtered buffing machines with wheels and buffing compounds.
- Drawing: Full-size drawbench and drawtools.
- Foredam Tools: Two flexible-shaft Foredam tools and accessories for student use. Additional unit for faculty demonstrations.
- Rolling: Two good-quality rolling mills; one with wire-roller, the other with an extra-wide (100 mm) flat-roll.
- Chasing: Chasing bowls (8), pitch and chasing tools.
- Bead-blaster: Large high-pressure bead-blaster.
- Belt Sander.
- Bench Grinder.
- Scroll saw.
- Drill press.
- Hydraulic Press: A 12-ton hydraulic press for die-forming, circle-cutting, etc.
- Bench shear: 12" bench-shear with capability to cut sheet up to 16G.
- Assorted Specialized Hand Tools: Gravers, setting burs, clamps, pliers, files, gauges, circle cutters, dapping tools, etc.
- Wide range of silversmithing stakes and hammers.
- Electroforming: Heavy-duty rectifier and large (3' x 2' x 3') tank, pump, etc.
for copper electroforming. (A recent donation that is in the process of being
refurbished and repaired).
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