Democratizing Design, Building Community

MFA student expands community 3D sculpture and printing workshops.

By Robin A. Bedenbaugh

Jeffery Hampshire is bringing 3D modeling and digital fabrication tools out of the studio and into the community.

Thanks to an ArtsAMP grant from Arts for All, the third-year MFA student in the Department of Art is offering free workshops in local public spaces designed to expand access to digital modeling tools and encourage creativity. At the workshops, called OpenSource, community members learn 3D modeling, laser cutting and other digital fabrication techniques using equipment often unavailable outside universities or specialized labs.

“Arts for All has supported my first steps as an art educator to the general public,” Hampshire said. “The grant helped me build a bridge between graduate study and my professional goals while reaching communities that want and would benefit from digital literacy. In an increasingly digital world, having access to these tools gives people a new way to think through challenges.”

The workshops are part of a larger initiative, CADKreations, which partners with schools, libraries, art centers and community organizations to integrate digital fabrication into everyday learning, providing tools, instruction and adaptable curriculum for learners of all ages.

His interest in community-based teaching traces back to middle school, when he attended a satellite program of the Visual Art Institute in Salt Lake City led by teacher Bruce Robertson. Hampshire later learned Robertson had personally donated funds so students could participate. He eventually worked for the institute himself—an experience that sparked his interest in teaching art.

Hampshire’s work, once rooted primarily in drawing and painting, shifted toward digital fabrication during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he purchased a 3D printer and began exploring digital design as both an artistic and educational tool.

Much of his artistic practice centers on concepts of memory, home and the environments that shape identity. He cites Korean artist Do Ho Suh, known for his fabric-based sculptural recreations of architectural spaces, as a major influence.

Reflecting on what he calls “the community that built me,” Hampshire often considers how his past informs his present practice—and how his work might help build new creative communities.

“Whether through sculptural works or everyday imagery,” Hampshire said, “I’m thinking about how I can build a community while referencing my past.”

At UMD, he developed and taught ART479M: “Advanced Digital Media Studio” in Summer 2025 and Winter 2026, introducing art and Immersive Media Design students to “digital clay” modeling—a sculptural, organic approach to digital design.

He has also taught at Studio A in the STAMP Student Union, where students designed tabletop miniatures used in gaming.

He’s currently at work on his thesis exhibition, “Interpolated Landscapes,” which will explore how memory is shaped through the shifting and imperfect translations created by digital imaging technology.  

He recently won a second ArtsAMP Grant to support the project, which uses LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, photography and video to capture transitional or overlooked spaces and translate them from digital scans into physical artworks.

It will be installed at the University of Maryland Art Gallery this spring. 

Top photo by Jack (Thomas) Brittan-Powell from the first OpenSource Workshops. Second photo is from Hampshire's second year show, "This is a long Exposure" at the Stamp Gallery in 2025.