Get to Know the Studio, Workshop, and Technical Resources at UCalgary's Department of Art and Art History

From painting to 3D printing, no matter your artistic ambitions, you'll find a home in the Department.

Creating great art is about more than inspiration — you need access to the tools and resources that make your art possible. Every medium has its must-have implements, from the humble charcoal stick to the most complicated firing kiln. If you're an artist in search of the tools of the trade, you should check out the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Calgary.

No matter your medium, you're sure to find valuable support in the Department. Let's explore some of the facilities you'll enjoy as an art student at UCalgary:

Drawing and painting

Both the drawing and painting facilities include studios with storage areas, a still life room, a collection of art prints, and an anatomical plastic human skeleton, so you can master the human figure.

Sculpture

The sculpture facilities include bronze and metal casting equipment, welding and metal forming shop, studios for plaster, wood, clay, and stone.

Check out a 3D tour of the foundry.

Printmaking

There are separate studios for intaglio/relief, lithography, screenprint, and darkroom processes. Equipment includes vacuum screenprint tables, exposure units, spray booths, a 17" Epson printer for photo positives, multiple standard etching presses, an automatic etching press, lithography presses, and various lithographic stones.

Take a 3D tour of the litho studio and the etching studio.

Photography

The photography facilities offer standard black & white and colour equipment, means for transparency masking colour separation, inter-negatives, dye transfer printing, and gum printing.

There is a separate graduate darkroom with a colour and a black and white enlarger, print finishing/matting area and an artificial light studio, with both continuous and electronic flash lighting. Digital facilities are provided primarily through the Integrated Arts Media Labs.

Check out a 3D tour of the photography facilities.

Digital media

The digital media needs of students in the Faculty of Arts, including the Department of Art and Art History, are primarily met by the Integrated Arts Media Lab (IAML). The IAML includes digital equipment, such as Power Macs, digital still and video cameras, and a Display Maker Series XII Printer. The printer can print in one of the widest ranges of colours on the market, with archival, museum-grade ink and can print on a wide range of materials. An Object 30 Pro 3D printer is also housed in the IAML.

The Department of Art and Art History also has a ShopBot Buddy CNC Router available in its Woodshop. This 3-axis router is a computer-controlled system that accepts files from various 2D design and 3D modelling programs; it can accommodate foam, wood and plastics up to 24"x48"x5".

Take a 3D tour of the animation studio and the Integrated Arts Media Lab.

Wood and metal workshops

The Workshops are maker spaces where the Department of Art and Art History's students and personnel can go for technical consultations, training and practice. The services are centred on a fully-equipped woodshop and tool-room, a metal shop with resources for a broad range of metal-working processes, and a foundry set up for investment and sand casting of bronze and aluminum. The facilities also include a CNC router for wood and plastics, FDM 3D printers, a CO2 laser engraver, a spray room and spaces for ceramics, wax, plaster, and cement work.

No matter your specialty, you'll find the tools and tech you need to express your artistry. (And if you haven't found your specialty, even better — you'll have more room to play and experiment!)

The Department of Art and Art History at the University of Calgary is here to support you. Take a look at work from some of our staff and students, and consider joining us in the studio!