School of Art

The Ceramics Lab

The Ceramics Lab is an institute-wide facility open to all students, faculty and staff. Our studio facilitates the fabrication of clay and ceramic sculpture, design and functional objects. Classes and workshops are offered each semester and a knowledgeable staff of current students are available during the week to assist with hands-on help and skill-sharing. 

We have three electric Skutt kilns for bisque and mid-range oxidation glaze firings as well as a wide variety of cone 6 glazes made on site in our glaze chemistry lab. We stock a range of Laguna Clay Company sculpture and throwing stoneware clays which are available for sale to the CalArts community at-cost. Our sculpture studio has a slab roller, extruder, clay recycling pug-mill, steel frame work tables for constructing large scale work, a dedicated clay sink, and an assortment of carts for building and transporting work in progress. Our new indoor pottery studio supports nine Brent Model C throwing wheels, steel-frame wedging table, therapeutic lighting and color palette, climate control, air purification, wall-to-wall built-in shelving, dedicated clay sink, as well as a tea station and mini-library.

The Ceramics Lab supports experimental and traditional clay and ceramic techniques including luster firings, advanced glaze chemistry, decals, mold making and slip casting.

MacLab

The MacLab facilitates the creation of digital and print-based work, motion graphics, and web design. The lab extends studio space and supports student use and the curriculum with a variety of software, enabling editorial design, drawing, painting, photo manipulation, page layout, type design, UI/UX, 3-D rendering, motion graphics, and web design.

The lab features Mac computers on custom-designed tables, fabricated using a VOC-free surface composed of post-consumer recycled paper and non-petroleum resin. The teaching station is equipped to display large video and sound projection for classes and visiting guests. Additionally, the lab offers a small meeting space, TVs for displaying work, wireless internet connections, laser printing, and scanning. The MacLab includes a secure glass enclosure with LED lighting to display posters from the graphic design archive and individual poster shows.

Student lab techs are accessible for confirming art school access, refreshing lab supplies, troubleshooting, and answering questions about the hardware and software. Users are responsible for their own document storage and backup. Priority is given to the curriculum and labs are intended for the production and printing of original work, created for class and individual projects.

Two adjunct labs support the MacLab and curriculum, managed and operated by student techs in training. For hours of operation, see posted schedules at each facility.

• A107-c Wide Format - Offers fee-based, large format color inkjet output with 44” and 24” printers on assorted media by trained techs. The WideFormat is open to everyone in the institute.
• A107-f ColorLab - Provides color laser printing. Open to Graphic Design BFA students.

Photo Lab

The Photo Lab provides equipment and facilities for both traditional and digital processes, and is designed to serve the curriculum of the Photography and Media Program.

The analogue printing facilities include two analogue film processing rooms, two large black & white analogue printing bays, nine analogue color printing checkout rooms, a 52" color (type ra-4) print processor, and the Mural Room which houses an 8" x 10" horizontal closed loop color enlarger. The Photo Cage additionally manages a classroom, lighting studio, and copy room.

The digital imaging instructional and production areas of the Photo Lab are specifically designed as visually neutral environments with specialized lighting to provide for optimum viewing and evaluating of color. There are ten student production workstations, which provide scanning, post-process editing and output capabilities. The digital production areas are available during the academic year upon completion of mandatory orientations and any applicable technical tutorials.

The Photo Cage provides equipment for daily checkout for all imaging processes. The Cage houses analogue cameras (35mm, 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, 6x12, 4x5, 8x10 and 11x14) and Canon DSLRs. The Cage also provides darkroom equipment, lighting equipment, camera accessories, and additional imaging equipment.

Print and Media Lab

The Print Lab & Media Lab has various production methods available including: screen printing (including t-shirt presses), intaglio, lithography, letterpress and bookbinding. The darkroom area has multiple exposure systems for producing plates and screens. Students who have attended a primary orientation (in Fall semester) and have paid a security deposit may use resources in the lab - these include squeegees, scoopcoaters, brayers, rollers and other items. Checked-out equipment is lent on a 24 hour maximum basis.

The Lab also includes a Digital Lab consisting of 4 workstations, a scanner and basic small-scale output for producing film for exposure as well as pre-production support for media projects. 

The Cage supplies paper, inks, plates and screen emulsion. Transaction and recharge protocols are identical to Output Services (see below).

Riso Services is also available by appointment. Students should to speak to staff about a riso project. We have 10 different color drums with a combination of different weighted paper in tabloid and letter sizes.

Output Services provides 44" inkjet printing on Lab-supplied (i.e. no outside materials) photo media and clear film, laser cutting (maximum size 16' x 12", see operators for material restrictions) 3-D Resin printing and vinyl cutting. Proper file set up is absolutely necessary and requirements for files, as well as pricing may be reviewed at Canvas. Additionally, a consultation with Output Services operators is highly recommended.

Output Services, Riso Services and the Cage are fee-based, student-run areas - open limited hours that change each semester. Current schedule is posted in front of the labs' double doors. All sales and services must be prepaid online by link provided in the Cage, or at the Cashier's Window in Accounting. No cash, check or credit and no running balances in the Lab. Recharge projects must include downloaded editable PDF forms (i.e. digitally-completed) as well as departmental authorization support documents (including signature and budget), and signature of Lab Director. Downloaded forms and basic information is available on Canvas Sandbox named “Print & Media Lab”. Incomplete or improperly completed forms will not be accepted.

Super Shop

The Super Shop is an Institute-wide resource that provides facilities and technical instruction for making three-dimensional artwork. It is a sculpture driven workspace with full woodworking, metal fabrication, sewing, as well as sand-blasting and spraying options. The Tool Cage offers a lending library of basic hand tools and power tools that are available for check out.

The Super Shop is also home to a Laguna Swift CNC, which appointments with the operators can be easily scheduled for file vetting and output services.