The Sculpture program at SUNY New Paltz provides students with a broad foundation of technical, conceptual, critical, and professional skills to facilitate the execution of their ideas and careers.
The Sculpture faculty—Associate Professor Michael Asbill and Associate Professor Emily Puthoff—encourage an interdisciplinary approach and the Sculpture curriculum reflects the expansive breadth of media, techniques, content and contexts inherent within contemporary sculpture practice. Courses are offered in installation, site-specific and situational sculpture, time-based media, kinetics and electronics, and sound, as well as traditional sculpture processes such as casting, welding/metal fabrication, and material investigations. Students have ample opportunity to further their professional skills and research with internships and fieldwork projects within the abundant local art resources both in the Hudson Valley and nearby New York City. Similarly, students are uniquely situated within the context of a liberal arts university to inform their sculptural practice through other areas of study and art studio electives. The Sculpture faculty at SUNY New Paltz invite students that are willing to challenge the conventions and parameters of the field while articulating an individual vision through experimentation, inquiry, rigorous making, and risk taking.
The well-appointed Sculpture facilities encompass 10,000 square feet of studio space. Individual studio space and ample access to tools is provided for both MFA and BFA sculpture majors. The SUNY New Paltz campus is located 90 miles north of New York City and is proximate to other major sculpture sites including Storm King, Socrates Sculpture Park, Art Omi, DIA:Beacon, and Mass MOCA. The abundant local resources as well as an extensive Visiting Artist Lecture Series provide students with comprehensive access to contemporary art.
