Typical Job Titles
Craft Artist | Sculptor |
Furniture Designer | Designer |
Program start date | Application deadline |
2023-09-02 | - |
2024-01-20 | - |
2024-09-15 | - |
A master’s in furniture design that advances your personal aesthetic through the study of contemporary practices and critical reflection in furniture design.
Co-op/Internship Encouraged
The master's in furniture design is structured to support your individual interests and aesthetic development. While engaging in the design and construction of a range of furniture objects, you will be challenged to advance your aesthetic, conceptual, and design sensibilities while simultaneously strengthening your building techniques and construction strategies. You will be exposed to a broad range of contemporary practices and creative approaches to design and art-making in support of experimentation, critical reflection, and the development of your personal aesthetic and design philosophy.
The first year of the furniture design degree exposes you to a broad range of critical issues related to the conception and production of art, serves to inspire and provoke your critical reflection, and facilitates the development of your preliminary thesis topic. You will spend ample time creating work, while you strengthen your woodworking techniques, design fundamentals, and your sense of personal creative expression. In the second year, you will continue to refine your work aesthetic as you propose and fully engage in a thesis project. You will work with RIT's gallery coordinators and curators to install and exhibit a final body of work.
The Beth and Ira Nash Endowed Scholarship is available to qualified applicants applying to the master's in furniture design. Learn more about the Beth and Ira Nash Endowed Scholarship, including application deadlines and how to apply.
The School for American Crafts offers a Studio Residency Program for students in ceramics, furniture design, glass, and metals and jewelry design. Residence positions are limited and are awarded after the review of all applicants’ portfolios, transcripts, and references. An interview is required. Accepted residents are required to register for one independent study credit during each semester of residence.
Accepted residents are expected to be present in their assigned studio during class hours and to contribute up to 10 hours of work per week in the main studio. These work hours are coordinated and overseen by the faculty in the resident's discipline. In exchange, the school will provide workspace, access to facilities, and supportive instruction. The resident is invited to participate in the full range of studio activities.
Participants may be those seeking additional studio experience prior to undergraduate or graduate study, early career professionals, or teachers on leave who wish to work again in an academic studio environment. The faculty in each discipline will make decisions concerning appropriate candidates.
Inquiries should be made to the Studio Residency Program, School for American Crafts, College of Art and Design, Rochester Institute of Technology, 73 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603.
Students are also interested in: Fine Arts Studio MFA, Industrial Design MFA
Craft Artist | Sculptor |
Furniture Designer | Designer |
What makes an RIT education exceptional? It’s the ability to complete relevant, hands-on career experience. At the graduate level, and paired with an advanced degree, cooperative education and internships give you the unparalleled credentials that truly set you apart. Learn more about graduate co-op and how it provides you with the career experience employers look for in their next top hires.
Co-ops and internships take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. Your art and design co-ops provide hands-on experience that enables you to apply your artistic capabilities in dynamic professional settings while you make valuable connections between classwork and real-world applications.
Cooperative education, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities are strongly encouraged for graduate students in the MFA in fine arts studio.
Cooperative education, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities are optional but strongly encouraged for graduate students in the MFA in furniture design.