Photo by Jackie Riccardi

Wide-range of tools and hardware

for students to transform their ideas into a tangible form

Welcome to the School of Visual Arts’ wood shops, providing our visual arts students with access to a wide range of tools and hardware. We have two wood shops: one located in the CFA building at 855 Commonwealth Avenue and one in the Fuller Building at 808 Commonwealth Avenue.

855 Shop

Undergraduate Wood Shop

The 855 Shop has a sawstop table saw, sliding and compound miter saws, a range of bandsaws, a drill press, and a variety of freestanding sanders and hand-held power tools. Students use this space to do things like work on sculptures or build stretcher bars.

The shop is open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, by appointment only. The Technical Associate for Sculpture and Painting, Gus Wheeler, supervises the shop working with students on their projects and making sure things are done safely. He is always happy to provide useful tricks, training on new tools, or help students brainstorm creative ways to build what they envision.

The shop provides hardware, abrasives, and adhesives: screws, nails, bolts, glue, tape, shims, sandpaper, etc. Some classes – like CFA AR 121 Foundation Sculpture – provide wood for students to use on projects. There’s also a selection of wood available for purchase for students to use on independent projects. Finally, the shop usually has a robust selection of scrap wood that is up for grabs.

All students who use the shop are required to complete a safety training, led by Gus. For many students, this training is folded into the curriculum of classes such as the Foundation Sculpture course offered through SVA.

List of Tools

808 Shop

Graduate Wood Shop

The 808 Shop is dedicated to Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students and is open 24 hours a day. Students first complete a robust safety training, led by the Technical Associate of Sculpture and Painting, Gus Wheeler. The 808 Shop has a sawstop table saw, sliding compound miter saw, panel saw, bandsaw, and belt and disk sander along with a variety of handheld power tools. Every fall Gus leads an in-depth demo of how to build high-quality stretcher bars and panels. He also is available by appointment to help MFA students learn new tools, and techniques, or to consult on complex projects.

Welding Shop

The Welding Shop is open to students who are enrolled in the Welding class. The shop has MIG welders, plasma cutters, torches, a spot welder, and various power-tools for cutting and shaping metal

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