At RISD students approach glass as both an artist’s material with remarkable expressive range and a studio discipline imbued with limitless potential, incorporating sculpture, architecture, design, craft and decorative art. Both undergraduate and graduate students in Glass discover an open, flexible and expansive studio discipline built on a unique history that dovetails with rapidly expanding dialogues defining innovation and creative practice.

The department emphasizes a commitment to both material and conceptual investigations of glass, helping students to refine an individual perspective through disciplined experimentation and rigorous critical inquiry.

“We ask Glass majors to value and nurture their native curiosity as the basis for developing a strong personal aesthetic. Through disciplined investigation of both the material and conceptual manifestations of the medium, students are encouraged to engage with the wide world through continual experimentation and artistic striving.”-Rachel Berwick, former Department Head