CERAMICS STUDIO

The Ceramics studio at Sheridan offers a studio-intensive approach to learning about clay and ceramics. Our program provides a comprehensive experience in functional ceramics design, studio practice and contemporary approaches to using clay as an expressive medium. 

Working with a dedicated and diverse group of faculty and staff, students explore traditional, experimental and contemporary approaches to a full range of processes and techniques. Students learn the fundamentals of clay mixing, throwing on the wheel, hand building tools and techniques, mold-making and slip-casting. We offer courses in clay and glaze technology where students learn formulation, development and manipulation of claybodies and glazes. Learning about kilns and firing is a fundamental element in our program; ceramics majors regularly load and fire a wide range of kilns, including salt/soda, wood, raku, reduction and electric kilns. Over the first three years of intensive studio experience, students build technical understanding and strengthen conceptual skills as they work towards the capstone project year.  During the 4th year, students work intensively on an individually determined body of work, with their final year culminating in a group exhibition of their finest pieces.  

Our program is more than just the large studio spaces and top-notch equipment and facilities.  While at Sheridan, our students become a part of a community, both within their peer group in the Craft and Design program, as well as a part of our large alumni network. Students become a part of the wider ceramics community by attending professional events, workshops, and field trips to museums and galleries. Our Clay Club fundraising activities are robust, attended by faculty, students and many alumni, contributing substantially to support visiting artists, studio events and trips to the NCECA Conference, as well as funding yearly studio awards.

FURNITURE STUDIO

The Furniture Studio curriculum is very much hands on, as fabrication and design skills are developed in tandem. We focus on excellence of execution and innovation in concept regardless of the media, but our main material is wood because of its ease of working, sustainability and historical context. It is the most comprehensive course of study in furniture design and making in Canada, and has been so since its inception in 1967.

A complete set of high-quality hand tools (planes, chisels, marking and measuring tools) is supplied for each student, complementing our well-equipped machine room with all standard stationary woodworking machinery, which includes a 4’ x 8’ CNC (computer numerically controlled) router with CNC lathe, 37” thickness sander, spray booth, hydraulic hot veneer press and some limited metalworking equipment, as well as a large number of portable power tools for common use.

The Furniture studio is open seven days a week from 7:00 am to midnight with access by students via pass card. First and second-year students share a bench room separate from the machine room, while third and fourth-year students share another bench room. All materials (solid wood, sheet goods, finishes, adhesives, sandpaper) are provided as part of tuition costs for course projects.

Our full-time technologist Christina Pupo maintains the facilities, upgrades equipment and provides excellent design and fabrication advice on an ongoing basis, while student studio monitors, hired for their technical and personal skills, are scheduled to work after class hours and on the weekends to assist fellow students in achieving their program goals.

GLASS STUDIO

In the glass studio, the student takes centre stage in everything we do. It is our goal to maximize the personal development of each individual by prioritizing openness, inclusivity and freedom. The freedom to experiment, to learn and to choose your own trajectory.

We have developed a unique structure in which students can discover and explore their inner selves and develop their own concepts. We help them understand the professional context in which they can build a career as a maker, designer, artist, craftsperson, or however they want to define themselves.

Students can achieve this by creating a personalized pathway that remains flexible throughout all 4 years. In the glass studio, students decide which techniques they want to use. They can specialise in only one or two techniques or explore every possible technique we have to offer: glass blowing, flame working, hot casting, kiln casting, slumping, fusing, laminating, cutting, drilling, sand blasting, grinding, polishing, painting, enameling, electroplating, printing, new technologies, mixed media . . .

Our dedicated and professional team of faculty, TA’s and fulltime technologist, have a wealth of knowledge and experience they are happy to share. The well-equipped studio is perfectly maintained and accessible 7 days a week from 7am until midnight.

Courses are supported by field trips, visiting artists, co-op programs and partnerships with other glass programs in colleges and universities worldwide. Our “Gaffer’s club” is student run and finances many of the initiatives so that no one is excluded from excursions based on financial ground. Wherever possible, students are also involved in extra curricular activities, the most prestigious one being our partnership with the Netflix hit series “Blown Away”.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDIO

Students who are drawn to our Industrial Design studio are looking for a hands-on experience to their design education. Our curriculum supports and encourages students to work through design problem solving with their hands and their heads.

As students move with growing confidence between the digital and physical world to develop their project ideas, our studio and shop provide the means to explore concepts and realize final designs.  Students have access to Industry standard 3D software, 3D printers (SLA, FDM and SLS arriving this summer), Water jet, CNC milling and cutting, vacuum forming, standard workshop equipment and spray booth.

All of the materials students use are chosen for their appropriateness for a given project. As students gain a strong practice in design thinking and methodology, materials can also be chosen as a starting point for a design investigation, working towards a final design that is revealed through a rigorous and heuristic exploration approach (as is evidenced by this year’s Capstone project ‘Vault Stool’ a woven carbon fibre project by Rebecca Collins).  Materials are provided as part of the tuition costs for course projects.

Studio support is provided by our technologist, who maintains the studio facilities, equipment and materials, and provides valuable design and technical advice, along with our team of student monitors, hired for their technical and personal skills who assist in maintaining the shop and assuring the safe use of it while providing their fellow students assistance after class hours and on the weekends.

TEXTILES STUDIO

The Textiles Studio provides education in both traditional and contemporary approaches to textiles design, with instruction in a range of materials and techniques, including surface design, block-printing, screen-printing, felt-making, paper-making, weaving, sewing, and digital design.   

Faculty foster understanding of materiality through close engagement with materials, fibres and techniques, while exploring concepts, function, and aesthetics. Through course projects, students are linked with the larger textiles community, participating in industry events, field trips, studio visits, artist talks, workshops, symposia, competitions and exhibitions. Students are encouraged to discover and develop their own aesthetic vision through experimentation and exploration, and to engage in studio research which culminates in the completion of a major studio project in each student’s graduating year. 

All Textiles students share the use of our professional, well-equipped studio spaces – sewing and weaving studio, felt and paper making area, print studio, darkroom and dye lab –  and equipment such as silk screens, sewing machines, digital embroidery machine, looms and computers with Adobe suite for digital textile design. Materials (fabrics, yarns, fibres, pigments and dyes) are provided as part of tuition costs for course projects. Curriculum in Textiles emphasizes awareness of sustainable studio practice, including mindful use of materials, a focus on the use of natural fibres and natural dyes. Students help to care for the Textiles Studio Dye Garden, where they grow and harvest their own dye plants to use in their projects.  

Studio support is provided by full-time technologist Janelle Guthrie, who maintains the studio facilities, equipment and materials, and provides invaluable design and technical advice, along with our wonderful team of studio monitors, who provide their fellow students with technical assistance and peer support during evening and weekend hours.

CONTACT TEXTILES

IG: @sheridantextiles
Acting Studio Head: Thea Haines