Metals & Jewelry Design Courses
BFA in Metals & Jewelry Design
In addition to studies in their program major, all of our students puruse a well-rounded education in supportive design, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Art History, and interdisciplinary and special studies.
Here are the course requirements for this major:
KCMJ 120 – Introduction to Metals/Jewelry Design – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: None
Students will be introduced to the materials and processes of metalsmithing through technical demonstrations, design exercises, and the creation of original works. Coursework includes research projects, technique samples, 2D ideation, 3D studies, and finished metal objects. These objects may be body adornment or utilitarian objects. Students will be immersed in the scale and technology of metals/jewelry, but will be encouraged to make objects that reflect their own personal or disciplinary experiences.
KCMJ 121 – Model Making and Casting – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: None
Students will develop traditional wax working and casting skills, as well as develop unique and personal methods to reduce and build up models to be burned out and cast. Emphasis will be placed on the ability to carve and model to specified dimensions, as well as concentrating on the unique attributes and possibilities of casting. Design skills will be enhanced to take advantage of the casting process, and will add to the development of a unique creative language. Students will also be introduced to rubber mold making and wax injection, as well as the common practice of producing models to have molds and casts made off-site.
KCMJ 130 – Hollow and Utilitarian Ware – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: None
Concentrates on the study of metal vessel ware and other traditionally utilitarian objects, both as a method of artistic expression, and as a basis for design. Sheet metal will be hammered, hydraulically pressed, and fabricated to form original hollow objects in sterling silver and base metals. Surface treatments and decoration (such as chasing and engraving) will be used to further enrich these hollow forms. Objects will also be formed by cold forging metal rod, and by reducing metal plate and bar using lathes and milling machines.
KCMJ 203 – Special Topics in Metals/Jewelry – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 120
A rotating series of in-depth, advanced techniques and themes in design and construction. This rotating-subjects course allows the Metals/Jewelry Design program to respond to student interest in a particular area, or industry driven demand for increasing a particular skill set.
KCMJ 211 – Metals/Jewelry Design I – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCDS 142, KCMJ 120, KCIN 231
Metals/Jewelry Design I, II and III are a combination of technical and aesthetic research, personal design development through drawings and object creation. Students will be required to design and produce one or multiple objects each semester with ideation, critique, approval, and construction stages for each. Design I will reinforce rudimentary design skills by engaging in a series of exercises outlined in client and project briefs. A majority of the coursework is research and drawing driven. It will introduce skills, in particular a design process, which can be taken to the intermediate and advanced design courses.
KCMJ 230 – Bench Topics in Commercial Metalwork – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 120
Presents metals/jewelry design majors with a hands-on and intensive survey of the jewelry industry through the work of the “trade” jeweler. A selection of bench techniques will be taught which center around repair and sizing. The processes and manufacturing concepts learned in previous courses will be modified or augmented to reflect industrial production standards. This knowledge can be brought into future design work, and future work at the bench producing any kind of metal object.
KCMJ 250 – Metals/Jewelry Rendering – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCPA 110, KCMJ 120, KCMJ 211
Builds on the student’s foundation experience, as well as the drawing and drafting for metalwork as introduced in Metals/Jewelry I. The course augments the latter skills in order to render designs for presentation, rather than as an aid in planning. Using a variety of media and techniques, including computer software, concepts will be drawn in front, side, top and perspective views, and will be rendered out in full color. These images will be used as tools to illustrate forms to clients, as well as a part of the planning and production process.
KCMJ 303 – Special Topics in Metals/Jewelry – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 120
A rotating series of in-depth, advanced, techniques and themes in design and construction. This rotating-subjects course allows the metals/jewelry design program to respond to student interest in a particular area, or industry-driven demand, for increasing a particular skill set. Topics may include: gemology; advanced stonesetting; liturgical metalwork; electroforming and electroplating; blacksmithing, enameling; engraving; advanced machine tool use; theatrical adornment.
KCMJ 312 – Metals/Jewelry Design II – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 211
Metals/Jewelry Design I, II and III are a combination of technical and aesthetic research, personal design development through drawings and object creation. Students will be required to design and produce a number of items each semester with planning, approval, constructions, and criticism stages for each. Design II stresses a further integration of concept and execution. Students will spend a greater amount of time proving their designs with increasingly detailed planning and prototyping.
KCMJ 313 – Metals/Jewelry Design III – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 312
Metals/Jewelry Design I, II and III are a combination of technical and aesthetic research, personal design development through drawings and object creation. Students will be required to design and produce a number of items each semester with planning, approval, constructions, and criticism stages for each. Design III will ensure that students are prepared to vigorously defend a design idea, and then plan the execution of that object using a self-directed and instructor approved timeline. This will be facilitated through a meticulously documented design process and professionally appropriate finished work.
KCMJ 320 – CAD/CAM for Metals/Jewelry – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCPA 110, KCMJ 120, KCDS 142 or KCDR 131
An exploration of the computer as a design tool for Metals/Jewelry Design majors. Introduction of digital 2D drawing concepts, digital 3D modeling techniques, and subtractive as well as additive output processes as they relate to the design and creation of original work.
KCMJ 330 – Stonesetting – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 230
Students will approach stones and their settings from the point of view of appropriate design, durability, marketing, and quality of crafts-personship. Students may bezel, channel, bead, flush, prong, and pave set stones from the modest CZ to natural sapphires and rubies. Traditional hand techniques will be the standard. However, other advanced techniques may be employed.
KCMJ 342 – Metals/Jewelry Production Multiples – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 230
Production multiples will introduce various small and large studio strategies to make identical metal objects. These objects can be modules for large, complex works of art, or they may be finished commercial projects. Designs and models will be modified and optimized for manufacturing, and techniques similar to those used in previous courses will be recovered for use in producing greater quantities of items. Mold making, wax injection, mass casting, mass finishing, die cutting, CNC milling, photo etching, and other methods will be covered.
KCMJ 399 – Independent Study:Metals/Jewelry Design – 1 to 3 Credits
Prerequisites: 3.0 GPA; junior/senior standing
KCMJ 400 – Special Problems:Metals/Jewelry Design – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: 3.0 GPA; junior/senior standing
KCMJ 402 – Internship:Metals/Jewelry Design – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: 3.0 GPA; junior/senior standing
Applying learned skills and principles in a work environment, while learning how a particular firm or industry operates.
KCMJ 403 – Seminar in Metals/Jewelry Design – 1 to 3 Credits
Prerequisites: Upper-level students
Seminar dealing with special interests in metals/jewelry design.
KCMJ 420 – Advanced CAD/CAM for Metals/Jewelry Design – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 320
Advanced techniques and applications for using the computer as an artistic tool, especially as they relate to jewelry design. Modeling skills will be augmented to allow for a more intuitive and comfortable approach to sophisticated design projects such as multiple stone settings, suites of related designs, and organic form generation. Output technology selection and use will be reinforced by researching practical and experimental uses for contemporary printing and machining systems.
KCMJ 441 – Professional Practices – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 312
Identifies the major professional/business issues that students will encounter as metalsmiths and designers. Guest speakers will represent different facets of the field, identifying the particular demands of their specialty. Readings will inform students about the economic challenges of the independent artist, as well as those of the creative business proprietor. Students will choose a career path and research the route to reaching that goal; presenting their finding in a studio/employment/educational/business plan. Instruction will be given on lighting and photographing metals/jewelry objects, as well as strategies for disseminating and presenting portfolios to graduate schools, clients and the public.
KCMJ 460 – Metals/Jewelry Thesis – 3 Credits
Prerequisites: KCMJ 313
Utilizing the experience gained through the metals/jewelry design coursework, and informed by a student’s interest and vision, the thesis student will propose, research, and execute a unified body of work. Thesis work should relate to the major experiences of an individual student, but will focus and refine a particular aesthetic, technique, and/or theme. Thesis results will be displayed during Kendall’s Annual Student Exhibition, as well as in an oral presentation that is open to the public, complete with in-progress visual documentation.
