The Art of Mold-Making & Slip-Casting
For all skill levels
Winter 2025
Course Description
This is a professional-level course of high-technical value for the absolute beginner and for artists and designers alike. Your instructor Frank Bosco has over forty years of professional experience producing molds for artists and designers including the painter Frank Stella. He has taught his skill for over twenty years to college art and design students at the Rhode Islands School of Design. For many of his students, this course was a catalyst for launching their creative and lucrative professional careers. Frank's own creative production utilizes an inventive use of casting large thin slabs, in his version of traditional encaustic-pigment-inlay to produce his narrative constructions dubbed Large-Tile Mosaics.
His training began at RISD as a student under the guidance of the potter and designer Norman Schulman who also founded RISD's glass department that produced Dale Chihuly. Frank's training solidified and ripened during his graduate years at Alfred University's College of Ceramics, working closely with his teacher, the industrial designer Wallace Higgins.
Students will learn the correct way of producing molds using industrial plasters and everything in between, including making casting slip from raw materials. Frank trains prospective students in the logics and details of craftsmanship, plus provides a clear and concise working practice that could potentially launch your next design idea into the marketplace.
Additionally, students will receive a pdf copy of Frank's popular mold-making book titled "Clean White Space," an invaluable resource guide, with illustrations through the process; the tools and their function; historical notes; technical notes; slip recipes and more.
All you need is a can-do spirit and the patience to follow through with the processes and enjoy the many challenges start to finish. This elite course offers students hands-on personal help and training from an instructor with years of experience in production mold-making as well as being an accomplished artist and entrepreneur. This course is a solid investment to those who intend to make their next ceramic production dream a reality.
$4850 + $200 materials/firing deposit at the point of registration.
This class meets once a week for 10 weeks. Each session is 2 hours long.
This is a single-student course.
Additional costs beyond tuition:
Kiln firing fee: 10¢ per cubic inch
Mold-making and slip-casting material charges based on actual use.
*Conditions apply for reduction firing: Size and kiln space limits all assessed for suitability.
All tools supplied
Instructor: Frank Bosco
View Instructor Background and Credentials
Course ID: TBA inquire via contact page
accepting enrollment
