Sculpture

Student welding in foundry.

At RISD, Sculpture encourages your individual growth as part of a larger community. We emphasize visual and critical literacy and intensive skill acquisition to help you build a conceptually strong creative practice. As you experiment and push beyond obvious solutions, you learn how what you make relates to the world, producing meaningful work through a command of process and informed use of materials.

Degree programs

Student mixing materials in sculpture studio.
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

In the Sculpture BFA program you move from basic skill building to the development of a personal artistic voice, working across diverse media and formats such as wood and metal sculpture, performance, installation, video and more.

a student shapes a pinkish-white abstract sculpture in a large, industrial studio space
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

The MFA in Sculpture supports you in developing interdisciplinary creative practices through community-engaged discourse, research and an emphasis on visual and critical literacy.

In the studio

As part of an integrated community, undergraduate and graduate students work together and individually with an extraordinary range of materials. The curriculum supports you through a series of courses that builds skills and literacies to help you make meaning using boundless materials, methodologies and media.

Student hands touching objects on a table.
Overhead shot of the outside entrance of the sculpture foundry building.
Hand holding a cloth sculpture of a drill.

Student work

Student work by William Samosir BFA 2018. A sculpture of a singular arm attached to a box covered in patches of fabrics.
Student work by Brian Oakes BFA 2018. Sculptures of electronic devices made of wood.
Student work by Eleanor Tomlinson MFA 2017. Sculpture scene with oceanic themes.
Student work by Max Bell BFA 2020. Sculpture of wood and melted metals.
Student work by Julia Gutman MFA 2018. Sculpture of a statue pole creating with various fabrics.
Student work by Sam Lavoie BFA 2019. Sculpture of television on top of a crate in a mostly empty room.
Student work by Renee Yu Jin BFA 2018. Sculpture of a girl carrying a giant sized fruit.
Student work by Ariana Martinez BRDD 2017. Bags of sand weigh down the base of a sculpture.
Student work by Charlie Ehrenfried BFA 2018 Malaika Temba BFA 2018. A site specific installation at Fort Adams in Newport, RI.
Student work by Odette Blaisdell BFA 2018. Sculpture of a melted penny-farthing bicycle.
Student work by Jared Akerstrom MFA 2017. Sculpture of large object made of fabric suspended in a gallery.
Student work by Emily Whynott BFA 2020. Sculpture of a human figure with the head of a bird.
Student work by Bobby Anspach MFA 2017. Two students stand inside a sculpture facing eachother.
Student work by Julia Betts MFA 2017. Bricks filled with different objects are arranged on the studio floor.
Student work by Lisa Su BFA 2018. A sculpture of a food tray suspended and holding various objects.

Alumni

After RISD, Sculpture graduates join an extensive alumni network, many of whom are established studio artists, fabricators, teachers, designers, art writers, curators, gallerists, administrators, exhibition designers, puppeteers, performances artists, software designers and more. Over the years, these alumni have created a blueprint that you can follow, reformat and tailor to your own aspirations.

an image from a performance piece created by RISD Sculpture alum Janine Antoni
Janine Antoni MFA 89 — fine artist

New York-based artist Janine Antoni is renowned for using her body as creative instrument and site of meaning in works that blend performance, sculpture, video and photography. The 1998 MacArthur Award winner exhibits internationally and her work is collected in such major museums as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Whitney, MoMA and the Guggenheim in NYC, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. “Making something is like a fight,” Antoni has said in interviews. “Usually the material resists me all the way. If I can stay open… the material starts to speak back and tell me what it wants to be."

an installation by RISD Sculpture alum Jim Drain
Jim Drain BFA 98 — studio artist

Best known for his exuberant, large-scale knit and sewn sculpture, artist Jim Drain also draws, paints and makes installations using colorful, quirky found and recycled objects. The former member of Forcefield—the influential art collective known for blending music, performance, film and installations—exhibits how work internationally and frequently collaborates with artists on site-specific work, including with RISD students on a sculptural piece for the US Embassy compound in Rabat, Morocco.

an installation at A-Z West, a desert site established by RISD Sculpture alum Andrea Zittel
Andrea Zittel MFA 98 — studio artist

Through her experimental work, Andrea Zittel investigates structures and habits of everyday life—from clothing and shelter to the concept of measured time—and reveals their arbitrary nature. In 2000 she established A-Z West, a desert compound in Joshua Tree, CA, where she conducts experiments like the Wagon Station Encampment project, a “village” of pods where guests live in exchange for working on site. “You need to be able to see one’s life with a kind of perspective,” she says, “to understand how society works and how your decisions fit into that.”

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