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BFA, Jewellery
Design and Metalsmithing

The Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing program offers students opportunities to explore the media and practices of jewellery and hollowware while engaging in critical discussions about content and form. The program offers a broad-based metals education, including studies of art jewellery, hollowware, product design and metal business practice. After developing basic technical skills, you will move on to more advanced technical procedures and carve out your own individual artistic practice.

Division: Craft/Foundation
Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts
Program: Major in Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing

Program Length: 4 years (see Degree Requirements)

Campus: Fountain Campus

Admission Deadline: March 1 for September; October 1 for January

Some graduates of NSCAD’s jewellery design and metalsmithing program establish successful art jewellery studio practices, while others develop commercial jewellery businesses. Many have pursued graduate studies and have become writers, critics, curators and professors at colleges/universities.

What Our Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing Students Can Expect

– Three interconnected jewellery studios with 37 large benches equipped with flexible shafts and torches and adjacent design tables available for upper-level students. You will also have access to a casting area, finishing equipment, computer design stations with modelling programs, a silversmithing studio and much more.

– A faculty of accomplished artists, scholars, educators and leaders in their craft.

– The chance to experiment with traditional methods, new technology and industrial processes.

Featured Courses

Introduction to
Jewellery

Introduction to Jewellery: This course introduces basic design and techniques in jewellery construction. In addition, through consideration of contemporary work and issues, students should begin to understand the aesthetics of jewellery.

imMaterial: Digital
Object Making

imMaterial: Digital Object Making: 3D digital design and digital fabrication technologies are explored through jewellery and small object making. This introductory level course introduces conceptual and technical approaches toward intricate form creation, using freeform surface modelling software, Rhinoceros 3D. Translating virtual to actual, students acquire skills and knowledge navigating the software interface and commands, outputting files as rendered compositions, 3D prints and fully finished objects. Topics include software tutorials, 3D scanning (photogrammetry), 3D printing (SLA, SLS, FDM) and image synthesis.

Entrepreneurship for
Visual Arts

Entrepreneurship for Visual Arts: This course examines the roles of business and marketing in art-based practices. Key issues and priorities include creating the choice to be independent, finding a niche, starting a new enterprise and investigating and analyzing opportunities.

Gemmology

This course will introduce the chemical and physical properties of gemstones. Students will study the nature of crystal formation, gemstone treatments, enhancements and gem identification.

Please visit the Academic Calendar for a description of all courses available during your undergraduate studies.

Student Work

Student Experience