The department’s Center for Turning and Furniture Design is the nation’s first university program to integrate turning and furniture design with a studio emphasis.
The center’s program offers instruction in newly renovated and award-winning facilities. Focusing on the professional development of the emerging artist, the center offers a broad range of instruction in concept development, design and drawing, turning, joinery, and construction applications with the goal of developing entrepreneurs whose output is marked by artistic design and fine craftsmanship. Graduates will be conversant in lathe turning and furniture design/building processes, contemporary digital technologies, and issues related to recycling, reinvention, and renewal.
Mr. Steve Loar, Director
Mr. Alphonse Mattia, Faculty Member
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Sprowls Hall, lower level
470 South 11th Street
Indiana, PA 15705
Phone: 724-357-2530
Fax: 724-357-3296
As a division of the Department of Art, which offers B.A., B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. degrees in Studio Arts, the Center for Turning and Furniture Design is dedicated to specific curricular goals:
- Recycle/Reuse/Reinvent
- Synthesis of Traditional and Contemporary Technologies
- Artist-in-Residence
- Curriculum Innovation
- Research and Development
- Business/Industry Partnerships
- Interdisciplinary Projects
- Community Outreach
- Exhibitions
The center is the first program in the nation to offer a studio emphasis in both turning and furniture design as part of undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art. The center’s goal is to develop entrepreneurs whose output is marked by artistic designs and fine craftsmanship. It offers advanced research and experimentation of computer numerical controlled (CNC) equipment on a custom four-axis CNC router, as well as a new CNC lathe.
The center has established recycling and green design as themes that inform and propel curriculum, material/process research, and external partnerships. Additionally, CenterWorks is the applied research and development arm of the Center for Turning and Furniture Design, creating co-op work experiences that serve the programmatic needs of the majors. The center also supports cross-disciplinary investigations of other visual arts disciplines.
Studio Space and Facilities
In January 2006, the center, along with Three-Dimensional Design, began instruction with upgraded equipment in a totally renovated and expanded facility in Sprowls Hall.
Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Artist Programs
An on-going Artist-in-Residence program was inaugurated in January 2006, bringing students into contact with working professionals who teach in their areas of expertise and spend the remainder of their time in personal work and experimentation in the newly expanded studios of the center. Additionally, visiting artists are periodically invited to the center for shorter lengths of time to share their professional expertise and experiences.
Call 724-357-2530 for more information on the Center for Turning and Furniture Design.
