The jewelry and metal arts program emphasizes the development of individual artistic expression while focusing on conceptual and technical skills necessary for professional achievement.

Undergraduate students who have completed a requisite amount of course work and who have been approved through a process of portfolio review may be granted a space in the jewelry and metal arts BFA Room. This secured workspace has 7 individual bench areas that include personal storage, communal tools, a flex-shaft workstation, and a utility sink. This space provides the opportunity for students to pursue ambitious, advanced work in a community setting. BFA students are also eligible for employment as student monitors, allowing for broader access to the jewelry and metal arts facility and resources, useful professional experience, and meaningful contributions to the metal arts community.

Through coursework and individual investigation, students are challenged with three essential creative elements: ideation, material knowledge, and technical exploration. They are encouraged to explore the meaningful impact that both technology and tradition have on the field of craft by engaging in a wide variety of materials and production methods. Students are exposed to traditional and contemporary metalworking techniques including metal fabrication, small- and large-scale metal casting, metal forming, enameling, anodizing, electroforming, lathe and CNC work, etching, patination, polishing, powder coating, and hydraulic forming.

The Jewelry and Metal Arts Area offers a handmade bicycle curriculum. Over the last 13 years, the Design, Build, Ride curriculum - part Jewelry and Metal Arts - has become the top handmade bicycle curriculum nationally and internationally, attracting internship opportunities for students and international acclaim.  The curriculum, comprised of three courses, is the place for learning finely tuned bicycle design and the time-honored metal fabrication techniques of handmade bicycles.