Indiana University provides many facilities for students and staff to pursue their academic interests. For those interested in art and sculpture, the Eskenazi School of Art Architecture and Design has facilities available for students and staff both in and out of the program.
This fall the Eskenazi School recently finished moving their wood and metal shop from the McCalla building to what used to be the geology core library located at the corner of 12th and Woodlawn. The facility provides a wide array of tools for Eskenazi School students to work on their projects.
Caitlyn Clark is a first year sculpture MFA student who has been working on one of her projects here since the new facility has opened. The new facility has helped her bring her project from an idea to reality.
Clark is currently using the facility to work on her abstract sculpture project
Clark came to IU from Louisiana. She has enjoyed being able to have her own studio and being able to use a wide variety of equipment. She is not just a sculptor. Clark has works in other mediums such as drawing and painting.
If you want to check out more of Clark’s work check out her website.
While the wood and metal shop facility helps students in the Eskenazi School there are other facilities that students and staff from IU can use. These are makerspaces for art and design, or MAD labs. They are digital fabrication labs meaning that the tools in the lab are controlled by a computer to make something. There are tools such as 3D printers and laser engraving. There are three separate MAD lab facilities on campus. There is a lab in the Fine arts building, the new wood / metal shop and one in Kirkwood Hall.
However, depending on the machine there is a fee. This would be charged through one’s bursar or research account.
Ryan Mandell helped make these facilities available to everyone. Mandell is the director of these facilities who was hired about four years ago to manage these resources. He oversees the equipment and has created training and usage protocols to ensure that the facilities are used properly and efficiently.
Due to the pandemic walk-ins at these facilities are not allowed to ensure that there are a limited number of people that can be socially distanced. On top of that, they used to give instructional presentations in person but those are now videos that can be watched online to ensure social distancing.
Mandell speaks about how they have adapted to COVID
These facilities can be very hands off as well. A reservation can be made where you show up with the file you want to be printed or engraved and the tech in the lab can set it up for you and then send an email when it is complete.
The labs are continuing to grow with new spaces and new equipment. Mandell mentioned that there is new equipment soon to be added. He said there will be two “small scale collaborative robotic arms” that will soon be installed.
To make a reservation to use one of the labs and to find more information about pricing check out their website
