Labs & Classrooms | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Labs & Classrooms

3D Shop

MCAD’s 3D Shop is a 10,000-square-foot space and foundry designed for woodworking, metalworking, and plaster making in addition to bronze and aluminum casting. It also houses spray booths and digital fabrication equipment. 3D Shop courses introduce you to the equipment, tools, techniques, and safe work practices. While overseeing the equipment and ensuring a safe work environment, expert staff offer technical assistance in all aspects of fabrication—from stretcher building to welding and casting.

3D shop.

Digital Fabrication

  • 3D printers capable of printing in several materials
  • 3D scanners for digitizing real-world objects and environments
  • CNC routers and mills
  • Laser cutter/engravers

Metal Shop

  • Ceramic shell investment casting equipment for bronze, etc.
  • English wheel
  • Forge with forced-air furnace
  • Hydraulic ironworker
  • Metal lathes
  • Milling machines
  • Pipe and tube benders
  • Plasma cutter
  • Plate shear
  • Sheet metal fabrication equipment
  • Welders (oxy-acetylene, MIG, and TIG)

Wood Shop

  • Bandsaws
  • Jointers
  • Lumber mill
  • Mortise machine
  • Panel saw
  • Planers
  • SawStop table saws
  • Wood lathes

Additional Equipment

  • Electronics prototyping workstations
  • Industrial sewing machines
  • Vacuum former and sheet bender for plastics
3D printers

Product Design
Spaces

MCAD's Product Design facilities give you access to state-of-the-art equipment to make your creative ideas a reality. These specialized spaces house 3D printers with large build capabilities, advanced laser systems, a Composites Lab complete with curing cabinets and ventilation, and a multitude of well-lit workspaces. Under the guidance of expert faculty and shop staff, students leave MCAD with the knowledge and skills of a full-fledged product designer. In addition, students have access to the rest of the 3D Shop, including equipment for wood and metalworking and bronze and aluminum foundry work.

Digital Lab

  • Stratasys F370 3D Printer
  • Stratasys uPrint 3D Printer
  • zPrinter 150 3D Printer
  • Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printer
  • Universal Laser System in 18x32 and 24x36 sizes

CNC Lab

  • LC Series 4896 CNC Router
  • Forrest CNC Router

Machining Lab

  • Tormach 1100M CNC Milling Machine

Workspaces

  • Composites Lab
  • Plaster/Mold Making Lab
  • Project Assembly Space
  • Spray Booth
  • Brand-new classroom with floor-to-ceiling windows
  • Student studios complete with workbenches

Drawing and
Painting Classrooms

With more than 4,000 square feet of space combined, MCAD’s Drawing and Painting classrooms feature skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows that bathe the rooms in natural light. Classrooms offer drawing horses, easels, excellent ventilation, washing stations for brush cleanup, and ample space to organize complex still lifes and model scenes. From drawing live models to painting small objects, students can explore a variety of experimental techniques and media.

Students working in the painting studio
Student working in darkroom

M/LAB

This 13,282-square-foot space fosters innovation and collaboration by allowing the creative energies of animation, film, multimedia, photography, and web development to merge.

  • Black Box Gallery
  • Analog and digital print studios
  • Film and animation production studios
  • Digital photo lab
  • Sound recording and mixing studio
  • Web and multimedia studio
  • High-tech classrooms
  • 2 multi-use production studios

Printmaking Studio

MCAD's Printmaking Studio is a 5000-square-foot work space filled with lots of natural light where students work with all types of print mediums. The studio staff conducts ongoing research to use the safest printmaking processes and materials available, which includes oil-based and water-based inks, Ferric Chloride for etching of copper plates, a rag service, non-toxic clean-up methods, and a spray booth system exhaust of aerosols and organic vapor solvents.

  • Intaglio
  • Letterpress, relief, and bookmaking
  • Lithography
  • Screenprinting
  • Alternative-process darkroom
  • Darkroom for lithography and nontoxic printmaking processes
  • Digital lab
Students working in MCAD's printshop
Close up of a student's hands working with paper pulp

Papermaking Studio

MCAD's Papermaking Studio allows students to explore a range of papermaking techniques and equipment for creating Western and Japanese paper, cast paper, and large sheets of paper. Students can work with botanicals, fabric, lint, or recycled paper. The Papermaking Studio features two separate workspaces: a Wet Studio and a Dry Studio.

  • David Reina beater
  • Hollander beater
  • David Reina vacuum table
  • Vats of assorted sizes
  • Tim Moore Western moulds
  • Eastern and Western teaching moulds
  • Stove and equipment for cooking pulp
  • Pulp sprayer
  • Refrigerator
  • Reina paper press
  • Felts
  • Heated sheet metal paper dryer
  • Restraint drying system
  • Dry Mount press
  • Flat files

Computer Labs

MCAD’s Computer Labs offer some of the latest and greatest hardware and software available. To meet all of project needs, students have access to:

  • Apple-based computer labs and workstations
  • Specialty computer labs with major-specific hardware and software
  • Wacom tablets and pens
  • Sony projectors
  • Epson scanners
Student in the computer lab