Sculpture

Jeanne Jaffe
jjaffe@uarts.edu
Coordinator
215-717-6102

The field of sculpture today is open and wide-ranging. Sculptors now create works that range from coin-sized medallic art to pieces that incorporate actual craters and other natural landforms. While some sculptors work with traditional materials such as clay and stone, others incorporate light, sound, and video into their work. Figurative sculpture today can be either traditional modeled forms, or robotic forms that actually move. The expansive nature of sculpture provides a challenge to institutions that educate artists, and we take that challenge seriously.

The Sculpture Department’s aim is to provide a sound, balanced exposure to all the formal, technical, and intellectual aspects of art, in preparation for the student’s continued professional growth beyond the undergraduate years. To this end, our curriculum is structured to provide formal and technical instruction, while at the same time allowing for individual creative development. Seminar classes in the junior and senior years engage the student in discussions on sculpture theory, philosophy, and critical thought.

Comprehensive facilities include fully equipped wood and metal shops, a foundry, a plaster shop and figure modeling studio, as well as an open studio for general use. Juniors and seniors have individual studios. A full-time shop supervisor provides technical assistance and supervision. Faculty members are all practicing professional sculptors, representing a wide variety of styles and interests. Classroom instruction is supplemented by visiting artists, gallery and museum visits in Philadelphia, and field trips to New York and Washington, D.C.

Our graduating students are recognized nationally for their creativity and diversity, and for their preparation for the next steps in their professional careers.