Our students are invited to hone traditional, digital, and experimental approaches according to their interests, while also focusing on professional development in an interdisciplinary environment. Our mentors will help you investigate technical, theoretical, and historical vantage points of the field.

See the Recent Mentors to get a sense of who our students are working with.

Beata Fleischmann ’13

Regional Resources

MCAD and the Twin Cities’ community also has many organizations, events, and studios, which support wide-ranging practices:

• Variety of designers located in the region —
  • WoodSport
  • Rovan
  • Solv Studio
  • Tandem Made
  • Eastvold
  • The Concrete Pig
  • Willie Willette Works
  • PWK Design
  • etc.
• Walker Art Center — internationally recognized multidisciplinary contemporary art center
• Minneapolis Institute of Art — comprehensive art museum showcasing the world’s diverse cultures
• Minnesota Museum of American Art — showcases American artists from the 19th century to the present
• Weisman Art Museum — designed by Frank Gehry; offers wide-ranging exhibitions, talks, and symposia
• Art Shanty Projects — Each winter, using lake ice as a relatively unregulated public space to expand the notions of what art can be.
• Creative Mornings – every month, a free event that gathers to foster a united and connected creative community: features a speaker from the creative community, plus coffee/breakfast.
• Pollen Midwest – invests in human connection to fuel momentum for social change (hosts breakfast meetings with speakers)

Regional Maker Spaces:

• Twin City Maker
• Nordeast Makers
• Minneapolis Make
• Women’s Woodshop
• White Bear Lake Makerspace
• Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center (classes include neon and heavy metals)
• FOCI Glass Center  (everything glass plus neon again)
• Northern Clay Center
• Textile Center
• Duluth MakerSpace: https://duluthmakerspace.com/
• Mankato Makerspace: https://www.mankatomakerspace.org/

Regional Funding

Additionally, MCAD’s MFA program can help you apply to several regional sources of funding. For some awards, you can apply during the summer between your first and second year to receive funding in the months after graduating.

• Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants (can apply as a student, but project cannot be associated with your degree program)
• Art(ists) On the Verge (AOV)
• Silverwood Park Annual Call
• Creative City Challenge
• Jerome Foundation Grants
• Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program
• Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Grants
• McKnight Foundation Grants
• Midway Contemporary Art Visual Arts Fund
• and more (the funding environment in MN is ever-evolving and growing)

Facilities

You can check out our facilities on our virtual building tour. MCAD’s 8,000-square-foot 3D Shop contains facilities for wood, metal working, and plaster; a foundry for bronze and aluminum casting; spray booths; and digital fabrication equipment. The 3D Shop also posts a lot of resources online.

There is a composites lab space to accommodate fiberglass and other resin based casting systems. A large temperature controlled spray booth, color balanced lighting and HVLP hook ups is also a part of this shop.

Digital Fabrication

• Several 3D printers capable of printing in several materials, including a Statasys F370 for printing objects as large as 14″x10″x14″
• 3D scanners for digitizing real-world objects and environments
• 2 CNC routers(Large: 48″x96″x2″ capacity and small: 24″x36 x6″ capacity.)
• A machining lab with a Tormach milling system plus a traditional mill and metal lathe
• 2 Laser cutters/engravers

Metal Shop

• Ceramic shell investment casting equipment for bronze, etc., English wheel, Forge with forced-air furnace, Hydraulic iron worker, Metal lathes, Milling machines, Pipe and tube benders, Plasma cutter, Plate shear, Sheet metal fabrication equipment, Welders (oxy-acetylene, MIG, and TIG)