SDSU School of Art, Design, and Art History

Graduate Jewelry and Metalwork Studies

General Overview

The Jewelry/Metalwork specialization is part of the Applied Design emphasis in the Art major. Students are required to meet performance standards in both academic and studio-based courses. The goal of the Jewelry & Metalwork program is to encourage and assist students in the development of a mature artistic statement based upon intellectual, aesthetic and technical capabilities in conjunction with their career goals. The curriculum is formulated to broaden understanding of the metals field and its historical and contemporary context through research, experimentation, and reading on critical issues in art and design. Creativity and technique are stressed equally. Students are encouraged to explore cross-disciplinary work as well as take advantage of foreign study opportunities to reveal new perspectives. The diversity of work produced in the program is evidence of the multiplicity of concerns that can be addressed within the arena of jewelry/metalsmithing.

Coursework Overview

The three-year MFA graduate program is a 60-unit course of study in studio, art history, and professional practice. Students are expected to research and develop visual ideas according to their personal interests and establish an informed historical/theoretical framework for their art. Technical support and facilities are provided to enable access to the broadest range of materials and processes. Each semester a required graduate seminar in metals is offered which is formulated to meet the particular needs of the students enrolled. All graduate students are given some short-term assignments that are done as a group to explore a specific idea and to reveal individual approaches to a theme. The individual according to their personal interests determines their remaining work.

Cross-disciplinary work is encouraged when appropriate to the students' direction. Students are expected to enter appropriate regional, national, and international competitions.

At the end of the second year students go through an Advancement to Candidacy Review to determine their readiness to begin a final body of work. The thesis project is begun in the final year and culminates in a solo exhibition, oral review by the school faculty and a written project report, which documents the development of the work. Students are encouraged to look at a wide range of possibilities for professions within the field. Past graduates of the MFA program have pursued many models of practice and are among the well-known studio jewelers and metalsmiths, designers, gallery owners, and university faculty throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Please visit our graduate admission page specific to the Master of Fine Arts for additional degree process information.

Admissions and Financial Assistance

New students are admitted into the program only in the fall semester on a space available basis. Application deadline is February 1. You can learn more detailed information about the admissions process on the Graduate Admissions page. For more information on financial assistance, please visit our Financial Aid page or our student scholarships page to find scholarships available through the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

Professional Organizations for Students

Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG)(external link)

Facilities

Read detailed information on our facilities on the Jewelry and Metalwork Facilities page, where you can also link to other interdisciplinary facilities within the School of Art, Design, and Art History.

You can also read more about local art material supplier resources on our Art Supplies page, as well as learn more about our library research facilities by visiting SDSU's Love Library website(external link).

The Faculty

To contact or learn more about individual faculty in this department, please click on their names below:

Current Faculty

• Sondra Sherman, M.F.A.

Faculty Emeritus

• Helen Shirk, M.F.A.
• Arline Fisch, M.F.A.

Distinguished Alumni

• Jeffrey Clancy, Assistant Professor, Maine College of Art
• David Clemons, Lecturer, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
• Yuko Yagisawa, Associate Professor, Metropolitan State College of Denver
• Randy Long, Head of Program and Professor of Art, Indiana University- Bloomington
• Christina Smith, Associate Professor, CSU Fullerton
• Derek McGarry, Head of Program, National College of Art and Design, Dublin
• Eugenie Keefer Bell, RAIA Acting Head, Department of Architecture, School of Design & Architecture, University of Canberra, Australia
• Thelma Coles, Professor of Art, University of Texas at Austin
• Gina Westergard, Professor, University of Kansas, Lawrence
• Yuko Yagisawa, Associate Professor, Metropolitan State College of Denver
• Ingrid Psuty, Lecturer, Grossmont College, San Diego
• Sarah Perkins, Professor, Missouri State University, Springfield
• Reina Brill, studio artist, Winner of NY State Foundation for the Arts Grant
• Chris Lowe, studio artist, Winner of ACC Emerging Artist Grant
• Jane Groover, founder and owner of Taboo Jewelry Studio, San Diego
• Dawn Nakanishi, Assistant Professor, Cabrillo College
• Teresa Lovering-Brown, Assistant Professor, Monterey Junior College
• Charleen Weidell, Associate Professor, University of Central Oklahoma
• Anne Hallam, Visiting Assistant Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Dallae Kang, studio artist, exhibits with Sculpture to Wear, Snyderman Gallery. Lecturer, CSU Long Beach, Pasadena City College

This page was last updated at 3:34PM on July 7, 2011