JEWELRY DESIGN AND METALSMITHING
A STUDENT ORGANIZATION AT TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Metals Club
The purpose of this club is to promote the education and interest in jewelry design and metalsmithing and to support activities that would lead to the technical and aesthetic development of Texas Tech University students. We also familiarize preeminent leaders in our field with our student body, facilities, and university at large.
Arbor Day
Metals Club serves both the community and the university in the following ways: we schedule the visiting artist program and act as a liaison agent from the university to the community, prepare university facilities for service events and activities, provide a valuable service for students selling supplies and materials, help with the jewelry and metals lab facility and the art department at large, and help with the Saturday Morning Art Project, a program for regional gifted high school students.
Professional development trip to James Avery Headquarters
Professional research trip to Dallas Museum of Art
2023 Texas Metals Symposium
LIVE ‘Virtual’ Event on February 11th, 2022 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. central.
The annual Texas Metals Symposium brings top artists working in the field of jewelry and metals for a day-long presentation to participants from across the State and beyond. The all-day symposium is free and open to the public and will be presented via Zoom webinar. Register to attend by clicking on this link and providing information about yourself.
This year's speakers include:
LAUREN KALMAN, Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit
BRUCE METCALF, Studio Jeweler and Writer, Montclair, New Jersey
MARY PEARSE, Associate Professor of Art, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens
LINDA THREADGILL, Studio Artist, Santa Fe; Professor Emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
JAMES THURMAN, Associate Professor, College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton
Click for Schedule and Speaker details.
The 2022 Texas Metals Symposium is supported with funds received from the Student Government Association, the TTU Metals Club, and Landmark Arts in the TTU School of Art.
Watch Last Years Symposium
Recording of the live event.
BFA & MFA Jewelry and Metals
The school of art continues to procure ever expanding financial opportunities for its MFA candidates including Chancellor scholarships and graduate assistantships. Please visit Financial Aid and School of Art for general registration and scholarship information. Contact Professor Rob Glover for more information.
The Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree
The Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing (Metals) program promotes an open environment in the studio that supports the freedom to be creative, yet also insists that students have the self-discipline to meet the requirements of the courses. As a result, alumni of the Metals program are working professionally all over the United States and having their works added to public collections across the country as well.
Emily Gomez, BFA student, Triggers, Necklace, fiber, 12” x 12” x 6”, Photo: Robly A. Glover
The Master of Fine Arts Degree
The MFA degree in jewelry design and metalsmithing provides the graduate candidate the skill to produce artwork of exceptional quality, both conceptually and technically. This is a terminal degree in the visual arts allowing the student to pursue a professional artistic career as well as giving them the credentials to teach at the university level.
Rick McCoy, MFA student, Necklace, Electrical wire, copper, 15” x 12” x 6”, Photo: Robly A. Glover
Our Community.
The University.
Situated on the West Texas plains in Lubbock, Texas Tech University is a state-supported, coeducational institution that attracts more than 30,000 students from every state in the United States and more than eighty foreign countries. The expansive lawns and red, terracotta roofed buildings, influenced by the Spanish Renaissance, enhance the beauty and spaciousness of one of the largest university campuses in the nation, encompassing 1,839 acres. Tech’s campus is equipped not only for serious academic research and study but also it provides a variety of cultural and recreational activities as well. Texas Tech sets aside one percent of all of its new construction funding for the acquisition of public art, making the university an institution that is seriously committed to the preservation of contemporary art on its campus.
The School of Art.
The mission of the School of Art is to provide a stimulating and challenging environment in which students develop creative and scholarly potential, to support faculty members in the pursuit of excellence in teaching and research, to serve public and professional constituencies, and to promote intercultural understandings through art.
The School of Art is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). The only national professional accrediting agency covering the whole field of art and design recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation and the United States Department of Education. NASAD currently has approximately 294 accredited institutional members in the US.
The Local Community.
Lubbock has a supportive arts community that hosts an art trail on the first Friday of each month. In addition, the arts community is supported by the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, the Buddy Holly Center, the Texas Tech Museum, the Science Spectrum, the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Lubbock, multiple theatre venues, an active local music community, and a wide variety of visual and performing arts sponsored by the university and community at large. Image: LEDA
Facility, Equipment & New Technologies
Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing Studio Facilities
The renovated 3D Art Annex is one of the premier jewelry/metalsmithing facilities in the Southwest United States with over 6,000 square feet of new space dedicated to jewelry design and metalsmithing alone and over one million dollars in traditional and contemporary equipment. The annex provides a spacious, level-one, laboratory studio that has been developed with an emphasis on the health and safety of its students and faculty. All studio areas within the annex feature state-of-the-art ventilation systems and a user-friendly architectural plan. Its high tech surveillance system ensures twenty-four hour studio access to all MFA and BFA candidates and allows students freedom to work in a secure and open environment.
Provided Materials Service
Texas Tech jewelry design and metalsmithing charges a modest lab fee that covers all basic materials for all courses as a service to the students and to prevent health and safety risks. The program provides the following items: all studio chemistry, patina chemistry, gas, copper, nickel, brass, sheet, wire, casting materials, anodizing materials, CAD materials, everything a student needs in expendable studio materials except semi-precious and precious materials, i.e. gold, silver, and stones. Tool kits are also provided to every student enrolled in graduate and undergraduate classes.
Computer Aided Design Equipment.
Formlabs 3D SLA Printers with UV curing stations. iMac workstations with Rhino and Zbrush.
The Beginning Lab.
Beginning instruction lab with large workspaces, advanced equipment, and student storage.
Indoor/Outdoor Student Lounge.
Outdoor courtyard with seating.
CNC Milling Machine.
Model Master Professional CNC milling machine with dedicated workstation. ArtCAM software.
The Soldering and Annealing Room.
State of the art soldering and annealing room with multi stage air flirtation.
D3 Digital Exhibition Space.
Digital exhibition area featuring three high definition TVs for documenting jewelry in motion.
The Graduate Lab.
Private lab with dedicated workspace for MFA Jewelry & Metals Students
Outdoor Hammering and Raising Yard.
Outdoor workspace, equipped with kilns hammering and raising yard, and courtyard.
4D’s Student Exhibition Space.
For display cases for the exhibition of student work housed inside the 3-D art annex.
The BFA Lab.
Dedicated work bench and storage area for undergraduate BFA Jewelry students.
Photography Equipment and Training.
Professional photographic equipment. Ability to shoot editorial style imagery in house.
Student Research & Exhibitions
Craft Forms Catalog cover. Emily Gomez Triggers
Metalsmith cover from Grit to Gold announcement
Grit to Gold, Society of North American Goldsmith’s Student show winners
Page from We Exist Book Publication, Featuring Nathan Carroll, MFA-Candidate
Learn more about how to apply to our program.
Please visit the official Texas Tech School of Art website to learn more about the application process.