Since 1997 Elise Winters has been collecting polymer jewelry with the intention of establishing a permanent collection in an American museum, along with an online archive that celebrates polymer jewelry in all its forms. Having gone through all the stages and roles of collector – acquiring objects, establishing her collection’s identity, working with experts and …
Putty In Your Hands: Elise Winters In Conversation Read More »
In the early 1990s word traveled quickly through collectors of contemporary jewelry, museum curators, and the craft world at large that a major collection of modernist jewelry had “escaped” the United States. Collective gnashing of teeth decried “the one that got away.” The collection had been assembled by Mark McDonald, Mark Isaacson, and Ralph Cutler, partners in …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
