As a Pittsburgh-area native who had left some time ago I was thrilled to have the opportunity to return there to meet and interview Sharon Massey, this year’s AJF Emerging Artist Award winner and a recent transplant to the Pittsburgh-area. While this interview focuses on the emerging artist award, during our conversation I was excited …
Leo Caballero and Amador Bertomeu, both from Barcelona, met in the late 1990s while sharing a studio-workshop. In 2003 they began the website Klimt02, which has become the go-to website for all matters that involve art jewelry worldwide. Last year they opened a gallery space in Barcelona. At the 2009 SNAG conference in Philadelphia, Leo gave …
Elizabeth Shypertt is co-owner of Velvet da Vinci, a contemporary jewelry gallery in San Francisco. (The name was inspired by an old Perry Mason television episode.) She is also the outgoing AJF treasurer. Elizabeth recently answered some questions posed by Sally von Bargen. As always, her point of view is insightful and wonderfully light-hearted. As …
AJF is pleased to publish a discussion of gifts and loans with Kelly L’Ecuyer. Kelly is responsible for moving the gift of Daphne Farago’s jewelry collection into the care of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and holds the title of the Ellyn McColgan Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of the Americas. …
Homer, Alaska, is a fishing and art community near Bristol Bay. The vast and breathtakingly beautiful Bristol Bay ecosystem is home to immense fisheries, the world’s largest concentration of brown bears, massive herds of caribou and countless species of migratory birds. Homer is where jeweler and conservation advocate Rika Mouw lives. As Rika ends her …
In May 2007, Sally von Bargen interviewed Jo Lauria, a long time AJF member and previous board member. She is the chief curator for the touring exhibition Craft in America: Expanding Traditions and co-author of the companion book Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects. Cover, Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton (ed), …
Nancy Worden, Literal Defense, 2007, photo: Rex Rystedt How appropriate that a farm near Quilcene, Washington, now houses the Olympic Music Festival. It is on that farm that Nancy Worden lived her formative years. With a paper-bag lunch and instructions to ‘Go play! See you at dinner!’ Nancy was free to explore. She’s been exploring …
Susan Cummins: How would you define your collection? Did you start out to fulfill that definition? If not what did you originally think you were doing? Helen Williams Drutt English: The MFAH: Helen Williams Drutt Collection documents a segment in the history of our field. It was not my intention to build a collection; it …
Cindi Strauss recently completed the five-year project of creating the Ornament as Art exhibit and catalog, which showcases the avant-garde jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt collection. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from Hamilton College and master’s degree in the history of decorative arts from Cooper-Hewitt/Parsons School of Design. She has been …
Trish Rodimer’s career has taken her from suburban Philadelphia to New York City to Chicago to San Francisco, where she’s worked in corporate communications for companies as varied as Avon, Kraft and Pacific Gas & Electric. Trish served on the AJF board as the past president. In 2007, Sally von Bargen talked with Trish about her interest in …
Giovanni Corvaja, 18 and 24 ct gold with 950 platinum wire, 10 X 10 X 4 cm Fast forward to California. ‘While I was living there, I took Christie Romero’s antique and period jewelry course. Christie is a wonderful teacher and guide and she introduced me to the American Society of Jewelry Historians, where I …
In 2008, noted collector Donna Schneier gave a substantial part of her contemporary jewelry collection to the Metropolitan Museum. The associate curator at the museum, Jane Adlin, is collaborating with Donna on an upcoming exhibition and a publication devoted to Donna’s gift. They kindly shared some jewelry thoughts with Susan Cummins. Susan Cummins: Donna, why …
