Metal program first American institute to show at International Design Museum in Germany

The State University of New York at New Paltz is proud to announce that its metal program has been selected to participate in the exhibition series Under the Stairs at Die Neue Sammlung—The International Design Museum in Munich, Germany—March 14-20. An opening reception for the participating artists will be held on Friday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the International Design Museum. Under the Stairs is being held in conjunction with the international jewelry exposition, Schmuch 2014, at the Internationale Handwerksmesse.

“Staring: in Hindsight,” the theme for the series, was conceived by the metal program’s current Master of Fine Arts candidates, and is designed in response to the physical space that houses the exhibition. Each year, The International Design Museum accepts an exhibition proposal from one metal program of international acclaim for their exhibition series. Being the first American institute selected for this prestigious event, New Paltz will be sending works from current graduate students and alumni of the past six years to the museum.

“This new honor and distinction confirms most strongly the graduate metal program’s place as first in the nation. The faculty is internationally recognized as world-class, and now our students have taken a place beside them,” said Paul Kassel, interim dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts. “The selection to participate also testifies to the overall high quality of our artist-teachers and artist-students in the School of Fine and Performing Arts. I am extremely proud of this achievement, and I know that pride is shared not only in the school, but across the college.”

The metal program at New Paltz is among the largest graduate metal programs in the country. It has earned the distinction of being ranked No.1 in the U.S. News and World Report list of best graduate programs. Students in the program learn the technical, aesthetic, and conceptual aspects of contemporary jewelry and metalsmithing in a state-of-the-art facility.

For information about this program visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/metal.