Ceramics Option - Studio Arts BFA
Ceramics Option
Studio Arts BFA
Overview for Ceramics Option - Studio Arts BFA
The ceramics degree option lets you explore your artistic expression in a dynamic environment. The curriculum focuses on intellectual development and practical knowledge within the context of art, craft, and design. You will learn the fundamental processes within ceramics, such as wheel-throwing, hand-building, mold-making, glazing, and material science. Individual critiques and group discussion will develop your personal aesthetic and enhance your critical thinking skills. RIT’s ceramics degree option prepares you with the professional and practical skills needed to establish a career in your field. This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA program.
The ceramics option provides a dynamic environment where intellectual discourse and craftsmanship thrives. Students focus on intellectual development, technical skill, and practical knowledge. The curriculum supports a range of fundamental topics within ceramics, such as sculpture, pottery, mold-making, glazing, firing, and material science and personal aesthetic development with individual critiques and group discussions. Students selecting this option are equipped with the professional and practical skills necessary to operate a studio business.
Accepted Student Open House
Join us on campus March 25 or April 1 to meet faculty, tour campus, and ask your questions.
Industries
Careers and Experiential Learning
Typical Job Titles
| Art Critic | Artist-in-Residence |
| Ceramic Artist | Clay and Glaze Chemist |
| Commercial Designer | Curatorial Assistant |
| Gallery Owner | Independent Designer |
| Materials Specialist | Slip-casting Technician |
| Sculptor | Studio Manager |
| Studio Technician |
Cooperative Education and Internships
What’s different about an RIT education? It’s the career experience you gain by completing cooperative education and internships with top companies in every single industry. You’ll earn more than a degree. You’ll gain real-world career experience that sets you apart.
Co-ops and internships take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. Your art and design co-ops will provide hands-on experience that enables you to apply your artistic capabilities in dynamic professional settings while you make valuable connections between classwork and real-world applications.
Students in the ceramics option are strongly encouraged to complete a cooperative education or internship experience.
Featured Work
'Nailed It!' ceramics assignment
Equal parts art history lesson and hands-on making, the RIT ceramics Josiah Wedgwood's Legacy course examines the evolution of 18th-century European ceramics under the influence of Josiah Wedgwood’s...
Artistic Expression
Capstone work from Carly Trine ’21 (Ceramics).
Sculpture and Self Portraiture
Jacob Dambra
The elephant ceramic sculpture was completed for the sophomore animal project, an assignment to create a sculpture representing a human-animal relationship.
Featured Profiles
Pre-College Portfolio Prep Workshop 2022
RIT's annual Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop offers students an engaging and rewarding experience. The course, taught by our School of Art's drawing and painting faculty, is a visual arts...
Throw Your Own Way
Heather Shields '25
Mikey Gambino has roots in pottery dating back to high school, when he and his father transformed a basement room into a ceramics studio. That introduction to the artform ultimately motivated him to...
Student Spotlight: Marian Draper
Marian Draper's ceramics practice draws heavy inspiration from historical objects, with her utilitarian vessels blurring the line between functional and sculptural ceramics.
Admissions and Financial Aid
This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA. Please visit the degree program page for admission requirements.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
100% of all incoming first-year and transfer students receive aid.
RIT’s personalized and comprehensive financial aid program includes scholarships, grants, loans, and campus employment programs. When all these are put to work, your actual cost may be much lower than the published estimated cost of attendance.
Learn more about financial aid and scholarships
Latest News
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January 17, 2023
![Side by side photos of a mural and ship part of a new exhibit at the Rochester Museum and Science Center.]()
Faculty, alumnus add allure to Rochester Museum and Science Center exhibit
The RIT connections to the Rochester Museum and Science Center's newest exhibit can be seen in a reproduction of a painting by Professor Luvon Sheppard and a warship replica that Jacob Dambra '22 helped construct.
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December 2, 2022
![two students watching as a professor unmolds an upside down clay vase.]()
Exploring art history and experimenting with clay in an interdisciplinary classroom
Developed and taught by Assistant Professor Peter Pincus, the course Josiah Wedgewood’s Legacy is a unique meld of art history, philosophy, and ceramics education and encourages students of all majors to explore and learn freely through experimentation and trial and error.
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November 11, 2022
![Artists hands cutting clay with tool.]()
Student creates ceramic work at the intersection of technology, the arts, and design
Mikey Gambino, a fifth-year student double majoring in industrial design and ceramics, is combining cutting-edge technology with the ancient art of ceramics.
