Objects capture the imagination. In the Fine Arts Three-Dimensional Department, students devote themselves to the creation of the artistic object in ceramics, fibers, glass, metals, and sculpture. No matter what their media of choice, students in Fine Arts 3D are encouraged to experiment, to push the boundaries of their creativity and of the disciplines in which they work.

Students in Fine Arts 3D follow a structured program that emphasizes increasing technical mastery and sophistication. Beginning with the study of structure, form-making, idea development, tool handling, and studio safety, students advance to classes and projects that develop and refine their aesthetic vision and build their technical, conceptual and critical skills. In their junior and senior years, they attend seminars and “theme classes” that explore advanced issues common to all three-dimensional arts, such as narrative, functionality in art and design, mixed media, installation, public art, and art as object and image. In each area of concentration – whether in Ceramics, Fibers, Glass, Metals, or Sculpture – they first learn to attain excellence in traditional techniques, then branch out to explore multiple media and advanced conceptual issues. The department facilitates artistic exploration through its state-of-the-art equipment, materials, and facilities, which can accommodate work in welding, fabrication, machine tool processes, blacksmithing, foundry processes, woodworking, hot and cold glassworking, and kiln firing.

Beginning in their junior year, students take part in an end-of-semester review process in which their work is evaluated by faculty, visiting artists, and graduate students. By their senior year, students have begun to focus their work so that it reflects personal perspectives and professional execution. The Senior Seminar, a required professional practices course, provides them with the tools they will need in order to survive – and succeed – as working artists once they leave Massachusetts College of Art

All five areas of concentration in the Department of Fine Arts 3D are enriched by studies in the history of object making and by a vibrant program of topical symposia and artist visits. Students gain first-hand knowledge about professional artists working in various 3D media through field trips to area studios, galleries, and museums. The Fine Arts 3D faculty are working artists with close ties to the contemporary art world in Boston and beyond. Both philosophically and practically, Fine Arts 3D strives to reflect the changing world of contemporary art, with its ferment of cross-disciplinary study and practice. Here, sculptors can learn to make furniture; fiber artists can build installations. Whatever the project, passionate engagement in art making is the key.