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Glass

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MFA | 2-year program

RISD Glass promotes the development of glass in contemporary art and is a leader in preparing artists for careers in this field. MFA students develop a distinctly personal aesthetic through source research, vigorous studio experimentation, regular critiques and a series of graduate seminars on contemporary art theory and criticism. RISD's Glass faculty - a highly respected group of practicing artists and dedicated educators - help students to hone practices that demonstrate a deep understanding of both contemporary art issues and the rich history of art and glass.

In addition to group discussions, tutorials and critiques, two core seminars and workshops form the heart of the graduate curriculum. Glass MFA students have the opportunity to pursue courses in areas that complement their work and ideas at both RISD and Brown University.

MFA first year

Fall
Graduate Glass I
Graduate Glass Degree Program Workshop I
Graduate Critical Issues Seminar
Non-major studio elective
Wintersession
Open elective
Spring
Graduate Glass II
Graduate Glass Degree Program Workshop II
Elective Graduate Seminar
Non-major studio elective

MFA second year

Fall
Graduate Glass III
Graduate Glass Degree Program Workshop III
Graduate Critical Issues Seminar
Non-major studio elective
Wintersession
Open elective
Spring
Graduate Degree Project
Graduate Glass Degree Program Workshop IV
Elective Graduate Seminar

MFA learning outcomes

Graduates are prepared to:

  • demonstrate technical mastery in creative glassmaking processes such as casting, moldmaking, hot glass and coldworking, and in comprehensive safety practices
  • exhibit well-developed team working skills and technical ability in the creative process and in the use and maintenance of all facilities
  • pursue a studio practice with dedication, rigor and consistency
  • establish a reliable methodology for developing work and ideas conceptually, materially and technically
  • research visual and historical precedents to develop grounding and framework for creative practice
  • articulate the conceptual and positioning of one's own artworks in the context of historical and contemporary glass practice


Inspiring community

RISD's Glass faculty is a diverse and respected group of practicing artists and dedicated educators who work closely with approximately 6–8 graduate students and 20–25 undergraduates in the degree programs. Visiting artists and critics representing a rich diversity of views and art activity also come to campus to present lectures and workshops, engage in studio collaborations, participate in group or individual critiques and share in conducting the weekly department assembly. A close association with many accomplished Glass alumni – Alison Berger BFA 87, Dale Chihuly MFA 68, Josiah McElheny BFA 89, Sean Salstrom MFA 06, Tavares Strachan BFA 03, Matt Szosz MFA 07, Boyd Sugiki MFA 96 and Bohyun Yoon MFA 08 – ensures that the department remains at the forefront of contemporary art and education.

Learning environment

Studio instruction takes place in group meetings and tutorials with resident professionals and a wide range of visiting artists and critics. Each graduate student is given individual studio space and full access to an extensive custom glass facility with a half-ton continuous-melt glass furnace, a 700-lb. casting furnace, 15 computer-programmed process ovens and a well-developed cold-working facility. Field trips augment and enhance classroom and studio activities, with visits to regional sites of broad professional interest and periodic trips to the Corning Glass complex in western New York and to New York City for its galleries, museums and artists' studios.

MFA thesis project

In the final semester, degree candidates create a comprehensive body of work under the guidance of a thesis committee. All Glass MFA candidates produce a written thesis and mount an independent exhibition off campus in addition to participating in the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition, a large-scale public show held in the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Post-baccalaureate | conceptual concentration

The Post-baccalaureate programs in Glass offer unique one-year courses of study with individualized curricula that are tailored for each student in consultation with faculty. These program accommodate a wide spectrum of students who have come to Glass from very different perspectives and levels of experience. For example, post-bacc students may design a curriculum tailored to complement undergraduate work in preparation for continued MFA study or structure the year for concentrated research in and of itself.

Post-baccalaureate program

Fall
Glass Studio (II, III or Graduate)
Glass Degree Program Workshop
Critical Issues Seminar
Contemporary Art History
Wintersession
Open elective
Spring
Glass studio (II, III or Graduate)
Glass Degree Program Workshop
Elective Graduate Seminar
Contemporary Art History

Post-baccalaureate | technical concentration

Post-baccalaureate program

Fall
Glass Studio
Beginning or Intermediate Glassworking
Glass Coldworking
Glass Degree Program Workshop
Wintersession
Open elective
Spring
Glass Studio
Beginning or Intermediate Glassworking
Glass Casting
History of Glass

Post-baccalaureate learning outcomes

Graduates are prepared to:

  • demonstrate technical competence in glassworking, coldworking and casting
  • exhibit team working skills in the creative process, handling of materials and the use and maintenance of glass facilities and equipment
  • establish rigor and consistency in studio practice
  • consistently utilize comprehensive safety practices in all aspects of studio work
  • articulate the motivation and positioning of one's own artworks in the context of historical and contemporary glass practice


Application requirements

  1. Application form

    Submit your RISD application form, and all other credentials, through the RISD Applicant Portal. The application fee is $60.

  2. Academic transcripts

    Initially, you must provide unofficial transcripts of all undergraduate and/or graduate study indicating satisfactory completion, or evidence of anticipated completion, of an undergraduate degree program from an accredited college or university. You can upload your unofficial transcripts within the RISD Applicant Portal. If your academic credentials are prepared in a language other than English, they must be translated into English by an approved translator before submitting. Enrolling students will later be required to submit official transcripts.

  3. Portfolio

    Graduate applicants to studio programs are required to submit 10–20 examples of visual work, with certain programs suggesting more specific ideas or portfolio requirements.

    Use SlideRoom to submit your graduate portfolio here.

    Specific program instructions:

    Digital + Media | Your portfolio should contain 10 samples total, which can be a combination of images and videos. You may submit up to 5 videos, with a total run time of no more than five minutes for all videos combined. Please do not submit multi-page PDF files. Each sample should be accompanied by text identifying the medium and year, and a four-sentence description explaining the concepts that inform your work and is no more than 50 words. If collaborative projects are presented, you must clearly identify your individual contribution.

    Furniture Design | In the MFA programs, students make their own work as part of learning from, and with, materials. This applies to tests and models as well as to full-size objects at human scale. Material experimentation includes traditional, new and hybrid materials as appropriate to individual student interests.

    In addition to your portfolio materials uploaded to Slideroom, we invite you to include a self-made video no more than 20 seconds duration of you making something. We are not looking for video with professional production values; we are interested in seeing you making something – small, large, modest or complex, any making action can work, the choice is yours. This is an option you might enjoy adding to your submission for us to learn more about your interests. Finally, please title your video.

    Jewelry + Metalsmithing | The rigorous studio-based orientation of the graduate program leverages traditional skills and fabrication techniques to critically approach new territories and ways of making.

    In addition to your portfolio materials uploaded to SlideRoom, we invite you to include a self-made video no more than 20 seconds duration of you making something. We are not looking for video with professional production values; we are interested in seeing you making something – small, large, modest or complex, any making action can work, the choice is yours. This is an option you might enjoy adding to your submission for us to learn more about your interests. Finally, please title your video.

    Landscape Architecture | All applicants to the Master's of Landscape Architecture degree programs are required to submit a portfolio and an additional video essay. Your portfolio should contain 10 individually produced and carefully chosen images of work that reflects your interests in landscape and the discipline of landscape architecture. Applicants to the MLA-1 program who have no prior design training may include photographs, sketches or written work that conveys their ability to observe, identify and explore spatial conditions within the landscape. All other applicants should include a selection of work that best represents the development of their interest in this field of study. All work should be labeled to indicate if it is academic, professional or personal. If team projects are presented, your individual contribution must be clearly identified. The portfolio should include a minimal amount of text.

    Prepare a short video of yourself telling us:

    • The most important reason you are motivated to study landscape architecture
    • At least one goal you hope to achieve in your graduate education
    • Why you think RISD is the best place to achieve your goals

    You are encouraged to be authentic and heartfelt in your response. This essay will function as the beginning of a conversation you will continue to have if you enter the program at RISD and it does not have to be the same information provided in your written essay. Cell phone videos are accepted as well. Maximum length: 2 minutes.

    Master of Arts in Teaching | MAT | Your portfolio should consist of 20 images exhibiting the depth and breadth of your studio experience. Ten images should represent work that reflects your investigations within a single medium; seven images should represent your confidence in handling a variety of media; and three images need to be samples of drawings.

    Master of Arts in Art + Design Education | MA | Submit a portfolio of 20 images that most clearly represent your creative practice as an artist or designer.

  4. Statement of purpose

    Graduate applicants must submit a written statement (500–750 words) outlining their interest and goals in pursuing graduate study. Several programs suggest more specific ideas or written requirements as outlined below.

    Specific program instructions:

    Digital + Media | Within the statement of purpose, the committee seeks a clear explanation of the applicant’s goals for both their time in school and afterwards, and how the MFA in Digital + Media is specifically suited to support these goals. This statement should address the following questions: what are you interested in exploring conceptually? What outcomes do you hope to get from the degree? Where do you see yourself after graduation? In addition to the statement of purpose, applicants should outline their working methodology or practice from initial research to project realization.

    Global Arts and Cultures | Applicants to the master’s program in Global Arts and Cultures must submit an academic statement of purpose of 1,000–2,000 words. The object of your statement is to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee as a thinker, scholar and writer, and you should address in detail your intellectual interests and proposed topic(s) of graduate study. Be as specific as possible in describing your prior college-level experience in areas encompassed by Global Arts and Cultures and how this work has contributed to your professional and personal goals in pursuing a master’s degree. Your statement should also reflect your understanding of the contours and demands of graduate study in Global Arts and Cultures at RISD.

    Landscape Architecture | Your essay should describe how your interest in landscape developed, how the work in your portfolio is indicative of that development and why the landscape architecture program at RISD seems well suited to your goals.

    Master of Arts in Teaching | MAT | Submit a statement (500–700 words) describing your work as an artist or designer. What is it about? How do you feel your academic, studio or work experience prepares you for entry to a graduate teacher education program? Discuss how, in your opinion, the quality of an educator’s artistic practice contributes to high-quality arts learning for children and youth. Since the significance of arts education in K–12 schools is not universally recognized, please provide a succinct argument for including the visual arts as a required core subject for all students at this level.

    Master of Arts in Art + Design Education | MA | Submit a written statement (500-750 words) describing your interest in pursuing the MA. Identify two questions or issues related to art and design education that pique your interest and which might have the potential to become topics for your MA thesis research. Describe how you might customize a program of study that maximizes the resources of RISD, Brown and the city in support of your particular interests in art and design education. In what ways do you, at this time, anticipate that earning an MA will advance your professional development and career aspirations?

    Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies | Applicants to the master’s in Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies must submit an academic statement of purpose of 1,000–2,000 words. The object of your statement is to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee as a thinker, scholar and writer, and you should address in detail your intellectual interests and proposed topic(s) of graduate study. You should be as specific as possible in describing your prior college-level experience in the areas of Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies and how this work has contributed to your professional and personal goals in pursuing a master’s degree. Your statement should also reflect your understanding of the contours and demands of graduate study in Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies at RISD.

    Photography | In addition to a statement of purpose, applicants should send an artist’s statement describing the work included in their portfolio. In other words, the artist’s statement should be about the work submitted, while the statement of purpose should address why you are seeking a graduate degree.

  5. Writing sample

    Applicants to the MA programs in Global Arts and Cultures and Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies are required to submit an example of critical and/or analytical writing. See below for all program-specific instructions.

    Global Arts and Cultures | Applicants are required to submit a writing sample that represents your strongest critical and/or analytical writing on a topic clearly related to Global Arts and Cultures. Please indicated if your writing sample is excerpted from a longer work. If it is, please make sure it forms a coherent argument and is framed such that the Admissions Committee understands its function as part of a longer work.

    Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies | Applicants are required to submit a writing sample that represents your strongest critical and/or analytical writing on a topic clearly related to Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies. Please indicated if your writing sample is excerpted from a longer work. If it is, please make sure it forms a coherent argument and is framed such that the Admissions Committee understands its function as part of a longer work.

  6. Letters of recommendation

    Applicants are required to submit three letters of recommendation. Recommendation letters should be written by teachers or other professionals who have firsthand knowledge of your art or academic achievements and can comment on your potential for graduate study. You may invite your recommenders to upload their letters through your Applicant Portal. If your recommenders are unable to submit using this method, their letters may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the Graduate Admissions Office.

  7. Tests

    English language proficiency | All applicants who speak English as a second language, including US citizens, must submit results from any one of these three options: TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or Duolingo (an online English test). Since proficiency in English is a prerequisite for acceptance, applicants must attain an acceptable score on their chosen test; RISD requires a minimum result of 93 on the TOEFL, a 6.5 on IELTS or a 63 on Duolingo.

    Plan to take the TOEFL or IELTS well in advance of the application deadline since it may take three weeks for your scores to be sent to RISD by the test agency. Duolingo test results may take up to four days to be received by RISD.

    The language test requirement may be waived for applicants who have studied in an institution where English is the language of instruction. You must contact the Admissions Office to explain your school history and determine if you are eligible.

    Graduate Record Exam (GRE) | Results from the Graduate Record Examination are not required as part of the application process, although candidates for MLA, MAT and MA programs are encouraged to submit their scores.