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The Master Craftsman Program has commenced production of another run of commerative benches. These benches acclaim unique honorees and tout their part in Florida State University's prestigious history.

Click Here For a Guided Walking Tour of Florida State University's Benches

Master Craftsman Program: Inventing a New Approach

 

-Who we are

-What we do

-How we do

-Why we do

 

Who we are: The Master Craftsman Program at Florida State University is a very unique program. Now in our sixth year, we are experiencing major growth and support from the University. There are many reasons for our prosperity, most of which deal with the nature of our program. We are a service to the university and to the students in our classes. We teach techniques, both traditional and state of the art, in producing various kinds of moldings, architectural elements in a variety of materials, wide ranging forms of cold cast materials, stained glass, business practices, project management and we’re expanding into hot glass, foundry and fabrication of statuary. We utilize the university’s steady need for specialized skills to fund our program and provide apprenticeship experience for students in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Return to Top

What we do: The original purpose of the Master Craftsman program was to enhance the Florida State campus. Throughout many of the building restorations, the Master Craftsman program has been called in to take molds of original stone carvings off buildings, produce innovative reinforced plaster mouldings, create dedications in granite and bronze for honored faculty, design and produce several large scale stained glass windows, refurbish campus fountains, create and cast bronze busts of our Noble Honorees, and cast concrete benches for the campus. It is a well-known figure to college admissions staffs that up to 60% of high school students choose which college to attend based upon the ambiance of the university grounds. By looking at the potential growth available by enriching the campus compared with the costs of contracting so many specialized skilled artists, it’s easy to see why Florida State University has been the first university to create this unique in-house department. Symbiotically, Master Craftsman benefits by being employed by the university to produce these projects, thus generating it’s own funding. The amount of fiscal resources needed to perform such projects is dramatically reduced further when the knowledge of production is also the fiber of education. Return to Top

How we do: The Master Craftsman Program offers a wide-ranging introductory course, which exposes the student to the skills offered. Upon completion they can then continue to take MCP courses with concentration in a certain area and work on campus projects with the MCP staff. This allows the students access to the resources of the program while also gaining first hand job experience. We recognize this as a very beneficial relationship between students, teachers, and institution. The university projects provide an apprentice role for students. They contribute their skills in a tangible and productive manner while experiencing an actual project environment. The instructors benefit from having apprentices to teach and solve problems in context. This hybridizes the role of teacher with responsibilities of project manager, giving them multiple modes of educating. The university gains through the economic advantages by having a department of specialized campus projects, the enrichment of the campus by students, and the cross-disciplinary nature of the Master Craftsman Program. We have found our abilities are in demand across the scope of the University system. The Master Craftsman Program maintains a cooperative teaching relationship with Visual Art. Collaborative student and faculty projects have been also achieved in Education, Engineering, Film, Theater, Anthropology, Medical School, and Athletics. Return to Top

Why we do: The Master Craftsman Department aims to answer the question of “How?” This makes the foundation of our educational approach quite simple. We focus on the two primary questions of “How do I make this?” and “How do I make a living doing this?” These are truly primary questions for all university students when they decide upon any area of study. In an effort to diversify the educational experience, Master Craftsman Program works primarily in conjunction with Visual Arts. The collaboration of these two diverse approaches to a similar area of study produces a learning environment which is unparalleled. By acknowledging and respecting our differences, we provide a distinct spectrum of information for our students to learn from. As an institution of higher learning we're committed to this kind of exploration and research, while continuing to preserve and pass on the knowledge from tradition. Throughout history there has always been a repository for all the skills and knowledge that fall into the realm of the artist. In the last hundred years or so, that repository has dwindled as the specialized skills of the artist/craftsman have been lost, only to be replaced by inexpensive, ready-made substitutes. Highly refined skills once available in almost everywhere have disappeared. The attrition of these skilled artist/craftsmen to time has created a valuable and in demand base of knowledge. Florida State recognizes this valued wisdom and identifies many opportunities for the students, faculty, and institution. We have come to recognize that craftsmanship is a skill worth repeating. The contemporary art student has amazing ideas and ambition, but those go only as far as their ability to bring them into existence. The Master Craftsman Program provides not only skills to reach their goals, but also lifetime proficiency to reach their careers. Return to Top