Welcome to our first AJF email newsletter. We are geographically far flung, yet we are closely bound by a common appreciation for art jewelry. Our goal for AJFconnection is that it will strengthen the bond between our members and our organization and deepen our appreciation for the jewelry we admire.
Among the many wonderful things about contemporary art jewelry is the three way connection between the maker, the wearer and the viewer. Each of us has experienced those quizzical looks or shared magical moments when someone is drawn to and then asks about a piece we are wearing. Our hope that is the coming months you grow to love receiving and sharing AJFconnection almost as much as you enjoy the connections you foster by wearing or collecting contemporary art jewelry.
In each issue we will feature work by a noteworthy artist. We launch with 2006 emerging Artist Award winner Natalya Pinchuk. We hope you enjoy our inaugural issue and look forward to receiving your suggestions.
in this issue
2006 Emerging Artist Winner Natalya Pinchuk
AJF Board Listens and Launches E-Newsletter
Yvonne Markovitz First Curator of Jewelry at U.S. Museum
Coming in Future Newsletters
AJF Board Listens and Launches E-Newsletter
One of the nicest things about AJF members is your willingness to share your opinions and views with us which is exactly what many of you did recently in response to our first membership survey. (We learned a lot about online surveys and next time we will make it easier to participate.)
You are now reading one of our first responses to what we learned from the survey. This AJFconnection, which will be sent to you twice monthly starting in January, is designed to increase the flow of information to you, give you reasons to take another look at our website and to provide our members a way to share information with each other.
- Mission, goals, and programs rated well in terms of being in alignment with our mission, although results were uncertain about our sponsorship of speakers at SOFA.
- There was strong support for growing the organization and continuing to expand our website.
- For most of you, AJF plays a vital role in the field and you would recommend us to your friends, it was also clear that we can do more to enhance the value of membership.
The richness of the survey, however, comes through in your response to our open-ended questions. The single biggest improvement you requested is more regular communication, which we are already tackling, and expanding our membership which we will be addressing as we evolve our organizational structure to support the growing needs of the Art Jewelry Forum and the larger art jewelry community.
Yvonne Markovitz First Curator of Jewelry at U.S. Museum
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston recently announced that Yvonne Markovitz, an expert on ancient and modern jewelry, has become the first Curator of Jewelry, a position endowed by museum trustee Susan B. Kaplan. This is the first jewelry curatorship at the MFA Boston as well as the first at any art museum in the country.
In her new position Yvonne will oversee the MFA’s sizable and comprehensive jewelry collection. With the recent gift to the Museum of The Daphne Farago Collection, comprised of 600 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the MFA now holds the most comprehensive collection of 20th century studio jewelry ever assembled.
Coming in Future Newsletters
2007 is shaping up to be a very interesting year. We can look forward to large-scale contemporary jewelry shows in two of the country’s most prestigious museums, MFA Boston and Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Our website will continue to grow and our programs will continue to evolve. We’ll share gallery news, artists of note, developments in the field. We plan to send AJFconnection twice a month to keep you in the know. If you have news you would like to share please let us know. We welcome your suggestions Handy email links are just a click away.
Coming in your next AJFconnection
- 2007 Trip Previews
- News from the Board Planning Session
- Mint Museum Acquisition News
- New Feature! “You Tell Us”
Send us your newsletter suggestions…
2006 Emerging Artist Winner Natalya Pinchuk
We are delighted to announce this year’s Emerging Artist Award Winner is Natalya Pinchuk. The jury was comprised of retired metals professor Arline Fisch, curator Gail M. Brown and renown jewelry artist Nancy Worden. The jury chose from thirty-three entries representing all regions of the U.S. as well as the Netherlands and Turkey. The criteria used to evaluate the entries were: originality, quality of craftsmanship and continuity of design. The jury was challenged and inspired by the high percentage of exceptional entries.
Pinchuk submitted a body of work she calls Growth Series. In Growth Series, bright flowers seem to sprout from the wearer in formations suggestive of colorful fungi thriving on a vine-like host. They appear to be indigenous to the steamy tropics and Dr. Suess. Juror Gail M. Brown described these whimsical felt, plastic and enamel creations as “daring and joyful.”
Natalya’s work appears in the new Lark Books publication 500 Necklaces. and was included in the exhibition of the same title at Velvet da Vinci in San Francisco this past November. She is also represented by Charon Kransen in New York. Formal announcement of her award was made at SOFA Chicago. This marks the seventh year that AJF has given an award to an emerging jewelry artist whose work shows exceptional promise.