MFA Applied Craft + Design

MFA Applied Craft + Design "Design thinking with the hand."

Connecting design thinking to design doing, Oregon College of Art and Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art have collaborated to create a unique MFA Program grounded in hands-on making, entrepreneurial strategies, and social and environmental engagement. Combining a mentor-based approach with an exceptional visiting artists program, students work one-on-one with nationally and internationally

recognized designers, makers, and scholars in a self-directed curriculum that challenges them to bring to life the full strength of their ideas and skills. Encouraging a cross-disciplinary studio environment in which the workshop is a lab to collaboratively explore design and making processes, the Program welcomes students from a wide range of creative backgrounds to make original work with an applied purpose. With a curriculum focused on the development of a strong artistic voice, the realization of work for a specific community or client, and entrepreneurism that connects making a living with making a difference, the MFA in Applied Craft and Design is the only graduate program of its kind.

We are thrilled to welcome Dee Clements, founder and creative director of Studio Herron, for a lecture on her work and p...
01/29/2024

We are thrilled to welcome Dee Clements, founder and creative director of Studio Herron, for a lecture on her work and practice!

Feb 8, 2024
Thursday 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Free + open to the public.

Hosted by PNCA’s MFA in Applied Craft + Design program.

Studio Herron, is a design studio that focuses on textiles, furniture and objects that combine an artistic process and traditional craft methodologies with the utilitarian and the aesthetic. Studio Herron creates unique and beautiful work for the trade, commercial retail, private and public commission, gallery exhibition and the Studio Herron label. Each are thoughtful works of art for everyday life, utility and comfort.

Dee Clements is the Founder, Creative Director and Designer of Studio Herron. Dee is a process-based designer who has a deep love of and interest in materials and craft. She holds an MFA in 3D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and BFA in Fiber and Materials Studies and Sculpture from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

“I’m interested in the connections between history, craft, culture, materials, and objects. My practice visually examines women’s roles in craft and design and their unseen labor through the lenses of feminism, ethnography, and patriarchy..... The term “Women’s Work,” though mainly associated with women and their art and craft in a derogatory way, is beautiful to me. My work celebrates and honors what is significant, unique, and unforgettable about women’s work. I hand dye my materials in a mix of bright, loud colors, and then paint on the forms after the weaving is completed.... I scale my work into large sculptural forms, pushing the material far from it’s original plant origin, while allowing the material to guide. This makes the weaving amazing, unexpected, and exquisite. Weaving is an ancient craft and a language unto itself. To honor the rich lineage of it through my work, also gives me agency to share my voice, and highlight all of the women who have come before me for centuries who were overlooked.” - Dee Clements

This lecture is presented live in-person at PNCA and streamed on PNCA’s youtube channel. Link in bio.

PNCA
511 NW Broadway
Portland, OR 97209

We are thrilled to announce Pacific Northwest College of Art's 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibition!On view across three locations...
04/13/2023

We are thrilled to announce Pacific Northwest College of Art's 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibition!
On view across three locations in downtown Portland, Oregon May 4 ~ May 21, 2023
Please join us for a First Thursday Opening Reception on May
4 from 5pm - 8pm!
Exhibition Locations~
Stelo Arts
412 NW 8th Ave, Portland
The Gallery at Bank of Expensify
401 SW 5th Ave, Portland
after/time gallery
730 SW 10th #110, Portland (entrance on SW 9th side of the block)
Gallery Hours
Saturday May 6, 12pm - 4pm
Sunday May 7, 12pm - 4pm
Saturday May 13, 12pm - 4pm
Sunday May 14, 12pm - 4pm
Friday May 19, 12pm - 4pm
Saturday May 20, 12pm - 4pm
Sunday May 21, 2pm - 4pm
The annua MFA Thesis Exhibition is the cu mination of 2+ vears of intensive research and practice by PNCA's MA candidates and will showcase thesis projects from 30 artists and designers *
MFA Applied Craft + Design:
Caitlin Taber, Evve, Mai Wierenga, Joyce Campbell, Sean Briggs

MFA Visual Studies:
Stacia Aguilar, Noah Beckham, Mei Bose, Paola Coimbra
Sanabria, Ari Dinero, Molly Herro, Sam Kegg, daelyn lambi,
tom manzanarez, Lee Maskarinec, Shannon O'Brien, Tristan
Perrotti, Sarah Rushford, buq emmalena Schulte, Ash Stone,
Chloe Tucker
MFA Print Media:
Will Mairs, Olive Ritson, marvin parra orozco, Indo Fulcher,
Maritza Ga van
Presented by Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette
University.
A huge thank you to our partners! Stelo Arts, Bank of
Expensify and after/time collective



The MFA Exhibition includes art and design thesis projects
from MFA candidates across five programs at PNCA!






Poster design + risograph printing by MFA Print Media alum
Christina Martin'

Free + Open to the public

.To kick off Black History Month, we welcome an incredible local improv group to our campus! Broke Gravy will facilitate...
02/08/2023

.
To kick off Black History Month, we welcome an incredible local improv group to our campus! Broke Gravy will facilitate a workshop in the mediatheque during the lunch hour (12:30-1:30) today. Bring yourselves and have some fun!

.Pipo is driven by hope-full social movements and the sense of awe, curiosity, and wonder curated by plants and mushroom...
02/01/2023

.
Pipo is driven by hope-full social movements and the sense of awe, curiosity, and wonder curated by plants and mushrooms. Their future installations will examine the intersections of q***r ecology, saturated visual culture, and the healing powers of (generative) music.

Find out more about the program & our faculty! Link in Bio.


Kari is the owner of Merkled Studio, a design and manufacturing company based in Portland,Oregon. Merkled Studio's work ...
01/31/2023

Kari is the owner of Merkled Studio, a design and manufacturing company based in Portland,
Oregon. Merkled Studio's work has been shown at galleries and retail stores around the world
including the NY MOMA Design Store, ICFF, IDS, and NeoCon.
https://merkled.com/

Find out more about the program & our faculty! Link in Bio.

The Creative Entrepreneurship course will provide students with frameworks, knowledge, and strategies to build a sustainable career as a craftsperson and designer.


for today's history class, we visited the commonly uncommon exhibition at the PNCA 511 Bldg.the exhibition featured obje...
12/07/2022

for today's history class, we visited the commonly uncommon exhibition at the PNCA 511 Bldg.

the exhibition featured objects from the Museum of Contemporary Craft collection, and we were lucky to have the curators Sara and Hannah join us during our visit.

The exhibition is open until Friday, December 10. Swipe to see some details of the objects exhibited!

aaand we made it through the last critique day of the semester! so grateful to be a part of this awesome cohort💕swipe to...
12/07/2022

aaand we made it through the last critique day of the semester! so grateful to be a part of this awesome cohort💕

swipe to see the *unintentional* brown and gold themed works critiqued today!

works by: , , and

thanks to for initiating a group photo before getting into the critique (and some donuts!🍩)

Hi, I'm Raz, and I will be taking over the instagram page for this week!I am a first-year student from the Philippines,...
12/06/2022

Hi, I'm Raz, and I will be taking over the instagram page for this week!

I am a first-year student from the Philippines, and I enjoy making toys and watching birds. These things inform my art practice, but being in the program encourages me to explore more and dig deeper.

I've been doing a bunch of projects in my studio here, which you can take a peek by swiping on to the next pics!

As we inch closer to the winter break students do not stop their continuous making and investigating in their studios. C...
11/30/2022

As we inch closer to the winter break students do not stop their continuous making and investigating in their studios. Check out the inspiring studios of 2nd year Evve Chmielewski and 1st year James Kennon.

Both Evve and James' work aims to challenge our expectations of fashion by exploring new material processes and redesigning the way we interact with garments.

While in the program, MFA AC+D students have twenty-four-hour access to individual studios during their studies. Students’ individual studio spaces are located in a multidisciplinary workshop environment that includes a woodshop, metal shop, ceramics and glazing studio, glass forming and slumping facilities, fibers studio, and a digital-making lab.

To learn more click the link in our bio or reach out to set up a time to talk!

Studio Images:
1-3 Evve Chmielewski
4-6 James Kennon



Apply now to join our 2023 cohort of makers and thinkers!The MFA in Applied Craft + Design (AC+D) welcomes makers who wa...
11/19/2022

Apply now to join our 2023 cohort of makers and thinkers!

The MFA in Applied Craft + Design (AC+D) welcomes makers who want to investigate living through an entrepreneurial studio-based design practice.

AC+D is truly multidisciplinary and designed for students with advanced making skills from various creative and material backgrounds. With an emphasis on defining a unique perspective, the curriculum focuses on all aspects of creative practice, from conceptual thinking and technical making skills to running a business.

As they work to create and circulate their work, makers in the program consider their social and environmental responsibility. AC+D students question their work's utility and understand that they, as makers, are creating culture and ask, "What makes meaning in our world?".

During their two years in the program, students gain a robust professional network and leave with the ability to connect making a living with making a difference!

Early Action Deadline - December 2, 2022
Priority Deadline - January 20, 2023
Decision Deadline - May 1, 2023

Images of student + alumni work
#2 Kath Forgan
#4 Jason Lee Starin
#6 Jen Cooke
#8 Georgy Avakov
#10 Matthew Phillip Willams
#12 araceli ortiz vasquez
#14 Taylor Kibby .kibby
#15 Andreas Kindler von Knobloch

Address

511 NW Broadway
Portland, OR
97232

Telephone

+15038218956

Website

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