The Ceramics studio in the New Devasthali Hall Art Building is state-of-the-art; providing New Mexico State students with cutting edge high quality technical facilities necessary for a comprehensive ceramic art education. The main ceramic studio classroom consists of 1800 square feet of centralized workspace where wheel throwing and hand-building courses are taught and where students can work with 24-hour access. There is ample table space, twelve electric potters wheels, a large slab roller, and ample storage shelving in the main ceramics studio classroom. Additionally there is a dedicated molding-making classroom, a humidity controlled room, and a fully stocked glaze lab with spray booth. Our clay mixing room is equipped with two high quality vacuumed chambered pug mills, two Soldner Clay Mixers, a hundred gallon slip mixer, and an impressive inventory of all the necessary raw materials needed to mix and research clay bodies. The attached ceramic courtyard adds both covered and uncovered additional outdoor workspace. Also housed in the courtyard is our kiln room. Students are able to fire their artworks in a large variety of kilns and firing processes at New Mexico State University. We have 6 top loading electric kilns, 4 small test electric kilns, two large Olsen gas kilns, one small test gas kiln, a raku kiln, and a large state-of-the-art computerized Blaauw gas kiln. To give our students the ability to research into new expanding realms of digital ceramics, we also have a top of the line ceramic 3-D printer, and a colored decal printer. All graduate students who choose to continue their art educations at New Mexico State University are provided with top-tier 125 square foot personal studio spaces, which are equipped with adjustable ventilation hoods, a work table, a personal sink, and storage shelving. The studio facilities at New Mexico State University are second to none!
Our state-of-the-art computer lab is furnished with 20 iMacs with full access to Adobe Creative Suite and an Epson V800 scanner. Additionally, students have access to a space for hands-on techniques shared with printmaking. Intermediate and Advanced level students in relevant courses have access to a 44” Epson SureColor P8000 large format printer and a 24” Epson SureColor P6000 large format printer. Advanced undergraduate students and graduate students have access to a separate lab with an additional 44” Epson large format printer, and 17” Epson Printer P800. The Digital Lab (housing laser cutters and 3D printers) is also available for student project production.
The photography facilities at NMSU include several distinct areas for creating and processing images. Our state-of-the-art digital lab is furnished with 20 iMacs with full access to Adobe Creative Cloud, Epson V800 scanners for transparent and reflective scanning, a 44” Epson SureColor P8000 large format printer and a 24” Epson SureColor P6000 large format printer. Advanced undergraduate students and graduate students have access to a separate lab with an additional 44” Epson large format printer. Our lighting studio is outfitted with 107” white, black and green screen seamless backdrops, 3 Bowens strobe units, and array of light modifiers. We also have a variety of 53” color backdrops available for use with a secondary backdrop stand kit. Our equipment checkout system makes available 4 DSLR cameras, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 70-200mm lenses, 12 Toyo 45 CX view cameras, 4 Seagull Medium Format cameras, several 35mm cameras, 2 Bowens strobe units, 2 DigiBee battery-powered strobe units, 2 Canon 430 EXII flash units with Pocketwizard transceivers, 2 projectors, a 32” monitor, 2 Wacom tablets, 3 Manfrotto fluid head tripods, as well as 6 microphone units, a Moza gimbal and a variety of stabilizers for video work.
The analog facilities in our brand new darkroom, houses 6 – black & white enlargers equipped for 35mm, medium format and large format negative and positive development. There are two film loading rooms, plus a large dry area with individual lockers and two large flat files for student use, photo finishing equipment, and a copy stand.
The sculpture studio consists of large indoor and outdoor spaces dedicated to woodworking, steel fabrication, bronze and aluminum casting, mold making and mixed media. A vast outdoor courtyard supports large-scale projects and installations. There are multiple private graduate studios adjacent to the main studio, as well as several outdoor covered areas used by advanced undergraduate sculpture students. Students in sculpture works across disciplines, creating works that range from objects and installations to performances and more.
WOOD SHOP:METAL SHOP EQUIPMENT
The painting and drawing area boasts two undergraduate studios totaling over 2500 sq. ft. of work space. Both studio spaces feature independent exhaust systems, clearstory windows, and two-sided, 8’ square, hinged walls for extra work space. The painting studio provides students with access to a mineral spirits parts washer for cleaning brushes, a freezer for paint storage, vertical and horizontal storage racks for paintings, as well as lockers for storing supplies. The drawing studio features a 6’ x 8’ exhaust wall for aerosol spraying and flat files for storing drawings up to 40” x 40”. Both studios are open to students 24/7. We also offer individual, private studios for painting and drawing at the graduate level. These generous studios are located within the Department of Art building and offer plenty of space for working and storage as well ample amounts of natural lighting and exhaust hoods to remove hazardous fumes.
Our new Metals studio provides indoor and outdoor working spaces consisting of one large general area with sixteen benches, ten soldering stations and a number of specialized areas. The general studio supports chemical process, enameling, machining, micro welding, 3D printing with castable wax, and include an instructional TV screen to project demonstration with document camera, printer and computer. In addition, two adjacent rooms will support casting, raising, and forming. Our outdoor space includes covered working areas with additional equipment for powder coating, lapidary work, polishing, and sand-blasting. Our flexible outdoor area also supports welding, forging, and large-scale casting.
In addition to the metals studio, students have access to the Digital Fabrication Lab with a large laser cutter (4’ x 3’) 3D scanner, and 3D printers, digital embroidery machine, 3D Fabrication Lab with utility space for large-scale work and mixed media, and photo studio for documentation.
A recent revival of printmaking in Southwest region has created a sustained interest among the students on how to make prints. The Printmaking area offers instruction in various print mediums – including Relief, Monotype, Intaglio, Lithography and Serigraphy.
The Printmaking lab is equipped with three American French Tool etching presses (24×42, 30×46, 36×64), a Griffin series 1 lithography press (26×44), a collection of lithographic stones of various sizes, a graining sink, a collection of leather and composite rollers, a plate cutter and a hot plate, a rosin aquatint box, both ferric chloride and saline sulfate etching tanks for work with copper, zinc, steel and aluminum, and a variety of chemicals and inks, as well as a separate serigraphy studio with an Amergraph Advantage 150 exposure unit, a darkroom, and a screen washout sink.
In addition, the studio houses a Wandercook 325G proofing press and sizable collection of metal and wood type. Our students also have access to the computer labs shared with Photography and Graphic Design areas with Apple workstations with Adobe CC Creative Suite. Students are actively engaged with the Southwestern printmaking community through local and national conferences, exhibitions and events.
