Workspaces and Tools

Undergraduate Sculpture studios

Undergraduate Sculpture students are housed in two distinct locations: the historic Metcalf Building and the newly renovated Point Street Studios. Metcalf houses the Ceramics, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Glass and Furniture Design departments, and is situated next door to the RISD Museum and the RISD 3D Store—a retail supplier of lumber, metal, hand tools, hardware and other bulky materials.

Sophomores share a large studio on the lofty fourth floor of Metcalf while juniors and seniors maintain a locker room and have access to installation and flex spaces throughout the building, and enjoy a spacious open-plan workspace at the Point Street Studios. Undergraduates have 18-hour access to their studios and to the wood and metal studios during monitored hours.

Metcalf Building—foundry and metal studio

  • one state-of-the-art ceramic shell foundry
  • one iron worker
  • one 4' power roll
  • one 30" band saw
  • one horizontal band saw
  • one 20" disc sander
  • one 4' plasma shear
  • two TIG welders
  • one MIG welder
  • arc welders
  • gas and coal forges
  • oxyacetylene welding
  • Hosfield and Di-Acro benders
  • one large English wheel
  • one large-scale plastic vacuum forming machine
  • one forklift
  • inside and outside cranes, and oversized doors for moving large objects

Metcalf Building—wood studio

  • one table saw
  • two 20" band saws
  • one panel saw
  • one drill press
  • one 48" lathe
  • one 20" disc sander
  • one 8" jointer
  • one 20" planer
  • numerous benches for glue-up and handworking

Point Street Studios

Point Street Studios is located a short bus ride away from the Metcalf Building. In addition to the open-plan working space for juniors and seniors, Point Street houses the Kinetics, Optics and Robotics (KOR) lab, which is equipped with two 3D printers and 10 workstations.

Computer resources

  • shared Mac and PC workstations in the Fine Arts computer labs

Co-Works

Through major studio research groups, Sculpture majors enjoy access to RISD’s prototyping laboratory, located in the Fletcher Building Downtown. Among its many specialty tools, Co-Works is equipped with:

  • industrial sewing machines
  • small-scale CNC routers and mills
  • 3D printers

Graduate Sculpture studios

Graduate students have 24-hour access to private and semi-private studios in the Fletcher Building, a facility designed to promote interdisciplinary discourse with grad students in other fine arts programs. The building houses critique spaces, a woodshop and extensive metal fabrication facilities in the Metcalf Building, which houses the undergraduate program. A full-time technician maintains a state-of-the-art ceramic shell foundry, where bronze and aluminum are poured weekly, and also supports wax-working, patina and rubber mold areas.