School for American Crafts
Overview
The School for American Crafts is dedicated to developing one-of-a-kind art using both traditional skills and modern technology. Students master their material of choice, whether its clay, wood, glass, or metals. They have access to world-class facilities including a glass hot shop; woodworking studio; flameworking and glass studios; and buffing, casting, and welding rooms. Under the tutelage of award-winning faculty and active artists, students immerse themselves in studio-intensive courses that inspire both process and conceptualization.
Full-tuition scholarships
Students applying to any School for American Crafts MFA program (ceramics, furniture design, glass, metals and jewelry design) are eligible for one of our new competitive, full-tuition scholarships.
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More than 100 metals and jewelry design alumni have created pieces modeled on the runway at the annual Fashion Week of Rochester.
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Luxury jewelry maker Tiffany & Co. has employed more than 50 metals and jewelry design alumni.
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Each year, more than a dozen visiting artists are welcomed for demos and lectures.
Latest News
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May 2, 2025
RIT casts a bright light at national iron arts conference
Between a moving performance, building an award-winning iron-melting device, and featured exhibitions, RIT students, faculty, staff and alumni were present in every corner of the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices.
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April 30, 2025
Ceramics MFA candidate from Nigeria finds his signature at RIT
From textiles to clay, Emmanuel Okechukwu’s journey at RIT was marked by an ambition to find a storytelling style with his ceramics that authentically shared his Nigerian lineage.
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March 5, 2025
Let’s Hear It for the Ladies Who Lathe
The New York Times features the work of Wendy Maruyama '80 MFA (woodworking and furniture design), one of the first two women to graduate with a master's degree in furniture making.
Featured Work and Profiles
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'To Be Decayed I'
Rinoi Imada "Glassblowing is the one of essential parts of my art practice. It is labor intensive, and I need to have good communications with people who help me. However, I have a trauma to create works ...
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Artist Interview: Madeline Rile Smith '20
RIT City Art Space's Artist Short Sesh features conversations with artists in the College of Art and Design about their work. The artist interview series, started by Gallery Director John Aäsp,...
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Public Sculpture
Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez, professor of Metals and Jewelry Design, created a near-12-foot sculpture for the Village of Fairport, N.Y.’s Kennelly Park, outside the public library. It was the...
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Visiting Artist: Corey Pemberton
Corey Pemberton spent three days embedded in the RIT College of Art and Design's creative community in February 2025, leading an artist talk, studio visits with MFA candidates, glassblowing demos, and...
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Alumni Spotlight: Tarrant Clements
Potter. Painter. Printmaker. Sculptor. Tarrant Clements '68 MFA (ceramics) has worked in a variety of mediums throughout her successful career.
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Molten Glass 3D Printer
RIT's glass program hosted the artist/designer/engineer team behind Evenline as artists in residence for the spring 2023 semester. The innovative company stationed its only-one-of-its-kind molten...
Read More about Molten Glass 3D Printer
Undergraduate Programs
The School for American Crafts offers an Associate in Occupational Studies in furniture design. The program is a highly-focused, two-year course of study in which students learn how to use basic hand tools and begin to explore the technical and visual potential of wood. The school has a legacy dating back more than 70 years. It is closely aligned to our School of Art’s vibrant studio arts BFA, which offers options in ceramics, furniture design, glass, and metals and jewelry design, among others. Both schools have unparalleled facilities for students to conceptualize and create art from start to finish.
Graduate Programs
The school offers MFA degrees in ceramics, furniture design, glass, and metals and jewelry design. All graduate students have individual studio spaces and access to state-of-the-art facilities to hone technique and design pieces that showcase their personal expression in their medium. A thesis project is the culminating experience for all graduate students. It’s produced independently by the student under the advisement of faculty members chosen to serve on that student’s thesis committee. The thesis involves design research and study, a creative project, and written and illustrated documentation.
Student Resources
For internal College of Art and Design resources such as academic information, forms, FAQs and more, visit inside.cad.rit.edu. For information about academic advising, visit here.