Ceramics Option - Studio Arts BFA
Ceramics Option
Studio Arts BFA
Overview
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.
Undergraduate Viewbook
The College of Art and Design is RIT’s intersection of technology, the arts and design — where creativity and innovation are boundless.
School of Art Brochure
Blend traditional methods of making with cutting-edge technology across a broad spectrum of programs.
Act Sooner. Know Earlier.
Apply Early Decision by Jan. 1 to get an admissions and financial aid decision by mid-January.
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 |
Salary and Career Information for Studio Arts BFA
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
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.
Course Explores Traditional and Contemporary Pottery
Peter Pincus
A ceramics class for non-majors allowed students from various disciplines to investigate the connective tissue between the earliest forms of the field and the contemporary pottery practices of...
Admission Requirements
This option is part of the Studio Arts BFA. Please visit the degree program page for admission requirements.
Learn about admissions, cost, and financial aid
Latest News
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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.
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October 4, 2022
![An overhead view of a student getting their portfolio reviewed by RIT faculty.]()
RIT welcomes prospective students for National Portfolio Day
RIT's College of Art and Design faculty, along with those at 25 other top art and design schools, reviewed students' portfolios as they prepared their artwork for the college admissions process.
