Artisanry Certificate

The Certificate in Artisanry is a 36-credit credential awarded by the College of Visual and Performing Arts, UMass Dartmouth, upon completion of study centered on the development of skills and concepts in the craft areas. Participating programs in Artisanry include Textile Design/Fiber Arts, Jewelry/Metals, Ceramics and Wood/ Furniture Design.

This certificate is intended for students without a bachelor’s degree. It provides not only coursework in art theory and practice but also a foundation in art history and literature or composition.

It is expected that students who complete the Certificate Program will have gained mastery of specific technical skills in one or more craft areas, knowledge of current trends and various historical precedents of that media area, and a direction for future work and acquaintance with the professional paths available to them.

Up to 18 credits may be met through transfer of prior educational experience, which can include credits from an accredited institution of higher learning or experience gained in workshop(s) that awarded no formal credit, e.g., Haystack, Arrowmont, Penland or centers of learning in foreign countries.

At least 21 credits, including part of the introductory studio requirement, all intermediate and advanced level studio requirements in the student’s chosen field, and the adjunct Artisanry studio course requirement must be taken in residence at UMass Dartmouth.

Certificate students are integrated into regularly-scheduled undergraduate classes. They are expected to perform on a similar technical and aesthetic level, and must be willing to work within the established curriculum and semester schedule of class meetings, projects, field trips, critiques and student exhibitions. Certificate course requirements may be completed on a full- time or part-time schedule.

Student Profile

The Certificate student will enroll in a series of studio and academic courses to develop appropriate technical skills and a personal aesthetic for sustained professional work. Certificate students work alongside BFA and sometimes MFA degree students and are expected to perform on similar technical and creative levels. This program is designed to include the following students:

• second degree art/design students wishing to pursue experience in one or more craft areas as an adjunct to their prior arts education,
• art/design professionals wanting to retrain, augment or update their skills and creative directions,
• second career students with personally-gained skills in the crafts but little or no previous formal arts education,
• those for whom the existing degrees offered by the University are not deemed necessary or feasible.

Application Procedure

Persons interested in applying to the Artisanry Certificate program write to the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts requesting admission to the program. Applicants should:

• indicate which subject they wish to pursue and their goals in pursuing the Certificate,
• enclose transcripts of all undergraduate work completed and records of related non-credit experience at recognized national workshops,
• enclose at least 10 images (jpegs) of their art work

The Dean’s Office will forward applications to the faculty in the appropriate subject areas for their recommendation. The faculty may request an interview with the applicant. Recommendations are due to the Dean within two weeks of receipt of the applicant’s materials.

Paying careful attention to the recommendation of the faculty, the Dean of the College will decide whether to admit the applicant to the program. The Dean will notify the applicant of the decision. The Dean will send the files of admitted students to the Office of University Records for a non-degree student file to be created. Because Certificate students are placed in regularly scheduled classes, admission to a specific area will also be based on the availability of space.

If an applicant is judged to be insufficiently prepared in technical areas or lacks clear focus, but is judged to have potential for learning and personal growth, the applicant may be asked to enroll in one or more courses as a non-certificate special student prior to making formal application to the Certificate program.

Registration for Certificate students will take place after the close of the registration period for degree students.