BFAJewelry & Metal Arts

The Jewelry and Metal Arts program, founded in 1912, is one of the oldest and most recognized in the field. You’ll explore a variety of processes for jewelry making and design through courses taught by nationally and internationally renowned faculty. Our location in the Bay Area gives us instant access to world-class museums and galleries, a large metalsmithing community, and materials suppliers.

Blend the traditional and cutting-edge

With faculty guidance, you’ll use rapid prototyping equipment, including 3D printers, jewelry welders, and laser cutters to create innovative designs. Blending craft-based processes with cutting-edge technology helps you develop a unique aesthetic approach that’s compelling and original. You’ll also expand your ways of thinking and making during internships with professional Bay Area metal artists.

Examining metal as a creative medium

You’ll examine metal through basic metalworking techniques, including filing, sawing and piercing, soldering, and forming. Then you’ll build upon these skills while studying the history of the metalsmithing field and other fine arts practices. Your goal is to lay the groundwork for your own original concepts.

Our curriculum challenges you to develop your techniques even further by emphasizing fabrication, concepts, and narrative. You’ll begin to create personally expressive work that engages with contemporary discourse. Opportunities to use traditional and contemporary techniques help you visualize and experiment with interesting dichotomies.

Project-based work and special techniques

As you develop a cohesive body of work for your senior solo show, you’ll take project-based courses that challenge you to conceptualize and create quickly. Themes, such as specific art history movements and personal narratives, help you find new sources of inspiration. You’ll have the opportunity to take four special technique courses in casting, enameling, production, and holloware to explore these skills in-depth.

Chair Curtis Arima is a metalsmith who makes jewelry and sculpture in his Berkeley studio. His work has appeared in the National Ornamental Metal Museum, Vennel Gallery in Scotland, and the Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Design Fair in New York and Chicago. Arima has been nominated for a NICHE Instructor of the Year award and received a Best of Show award at the Innovations in Contemporary Craft exhibitions in Richmond, California.