The Virtual Sculpture Garden will help keep people connected through the arts in a time of physical distancing by exhibiting 3D artwork from Virginia Tech and the surrounding community. This virtual reality experience will feature a dynamically expanding environment that will grow as the art collection grows to offer an ongoing and collaborative point of connection.  Created by students and faculty in the University Libraries and Moss Arts Center, and made possible in part by a grant from Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, the Virtual Sculpture Garden will be accessible to anyone through either a web browser or a virtual reality headset.

Contact

There are a lot of tools you can use to create 3D artwork. Here are a few of our favorite free ones!

Hard surface modeling:

  • TinkerCad - Web. Fully free.

  • Blender - Desktop. Fully free. Advanced. (Approved for VT use by VT Licensing)

  • Autodesk Maya - Desktop. Educational use only. Advanced. (Approved for VT use by VT Licensing)

Sculpting:
Block modeling:
VR painting:

  • A-Painter by Mozilla - Web VR (requires VR headset). Fully Free.

Not sure where to start? We recommend TinkerCad, SculptGL, or 3D Slash to play around with! Need inspiration? See what artists across the globe are creating at SketchFab.

Slide showing photos of Virginia creeper leaves alongside a black leaf silhouette and two stylized vine illustrations in gray and beige.
Graphic showing four grass tile renderings labeled standard, dream, pearl, and opal, with the title “grass tiles” and “Virtual Sculpture Garden” at the bottom.
Slide with reference photos and sketch notes of rhododendron leaves and flowers on the left, and three stylized rhododendron shrub illustrations on the right labeled “rhododendron.”
Stylized rendering of an illuminated white dogwood tree with golden light glowing through the trunk and scattered leaves, labeled “illuminated dogwood” and “Virtual Sculpture Garden.”

Related projects