A new exhibition at the University of Arkansas highlights the creative potential behind merging digital tools with traditional craft. Craft and Technology: Digital Design & Making Across Campus features original works by U of A students who explored augmented and virtual reality alongside woodworking and other hands-on practices through coursework and workshops spanning the School of Art, Department of Mathematical Sciences and School of Architecture.
The exhibit, located on Level 1 of Mullins Library, opens with a reception from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, and will remain on display through Feb. 27, 2026.
Led by Emily Baker, associate professor of architecture; Edmund Harriss, assistant professor of mathematical sciences; and Vincent Edwards, director of technology in the School of Art, the projects demonstrate how students across disciplines experiment with tools in order to better understand their function, potential and adaptability. Rather than focusing on preset expectations, faculty encouraged students to think creatively, play with technique and approach technology not as an endpoint but a starting place for innovation.
“This exhibit shows work from classes and workshops run by the School of Art, Department of Mathematical Sciences and School of Architecture that encourage students to engage and play with these tools,” Harriss said. “They share the goal of not just introducing students to how the tools can already be used, but how to think about the tools so they can innovate and create.”
Edwards emphasized that the cross-disciplinary approach gave students the freedom to merge digital and material processes in ways that complemented their interests.
“Rather than focusing on a conceptual theme, students were challenged to integrate a specific set of tools, techniques and materials into their projects,” he said. “This approach allowed a diverse class—including photographers, ceramicists, printmakers and designers—to create work that aligns with their existing artistic practices.”
One featured project, SpaceCraft, demonstrates how digital visualization tools can guide real-world assembly with minimal cost or complexity.
“This project demonstrates that custom-formed spatial structures may be assembled on site, with standardized parts and simple material processes, using relatively inexpensive augmented reality visualization tools,” Baker said.
The exhibition invites visitors to see how students across disciplines use technology not only to design, but to build, imagining future ways craft, computation and design might intersect.
