Proposal

No fine arts discipline has felt the impact of the emergence of 3D printing than Sculpture, and it is imperative that the Department of Visual Arts & Art History work with current technology.  This proposal seeks to expand the creative potential of the department’s Sculpture Studio at the Boca Raton campus for the benefit of all students.  The facility was built in the 1970s, and it features equipment that permits students to work with materials in tactile ways that characterized sculptural work of an earlier generation. The funds requested will bring the sculpture facilities to the cutting edge of modern 3D printing technology with the acquisition of two Stratasys uPrint Plus printers, as well as the supporting computer hardware and software. This will not only increase program quality for current students, but will play a significant role in recruiting high quality, digital-age students to the graduate and undergraduate ranks. 

 Digital technology complements the use of traditional processes and expands the potential for student creative expression and the execution of creative projects.  The addition of this “next-generation” equipment to the traditional processes and equipment currently taught in Sculpture will immerse students in a holistic technological environment.  This immersion will have an immediate impact on the digital literacy of the students, one of the signature themes set forth in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters strategic plan.  Space for the installation of these units is available already in a common area of the VA (53) 107 suite, more particularly along the hallway leading into the main workroom.  Eventual expansion of the VA (53) facilities could see them re-assigned to another location.

 All Sculpture students through the curriculum of Sculpture I and Advanced Sculpture, as well as student clubs, and interdisciplinary research will use the printers.  Each printer will be capable of serving twenty students during class time and with GA management other disciplines are welcome outside of sculpture classes.  Equipment training will take place during class time, and students should be completely trained by the end of their second semester of Sculpture classes.  Non-sculpture students will be certified to use the equipment by attending a special training course given once per semester on a weekend, and adequate controls on access and supervision of the use of the equipment will be set in place.  

 While the units will be established in the sculpture area of the facility, they are intended to serve a variety of disciplines within the department and to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and research.  This intent extends beyond the areas of the fine arts, to fields such as design, architecture, and engineering in accordance with the S.T.E.A.M. signature theme of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters strategic plan.

 The units are industry-standard, professional level printers that go well beyond the capabilities of personal home-use models.  They are used in a wide range of industries for rapid-prototyping and modeling.  Beyond the hardware of the two 3D printers, their operation requires two desktop computers to drive the modeling software and printing hardware.  These computers have to be of a certain capacity, in order to run the variety of modeling and rendering software suites that are used for the creation of both physical and virtual works. The employment of this level of professional-level technology could serve as the basis for a workforce-oriented vocational certificate program in the future.

Price/Price for 2 sets

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-3ds Max 3 Year License                                                                                                    $9.95/$19.90

-Revit 3 Year License                                                                                                         $9.95/$19.90   

-SolidWorks Student Edition 2014-2015 (12 Month License)                                  $139.99/$279.98

-Adobe Suite & license                                                                                                       $425/$850

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Total $1,169.78