In November 2007, the AJF Board (then Jo Lauria, Rika Mouw, Elizabeth Shypertt, and Pat Rodimer) agreed to award a $1500 grant to the U. of Wisconsin-Whitewater. This grant will support jewelry artist Eleanor Moty’s participation in a special survey of women jewelers and metalsmiths with a professional and educational relationship to Wisconsin—some participants graduated from Wisconsin; some did not; all, however, taught at Wisconsin.

The Women of Metal project features a wide range of activities with goals to:
• Celebrate the artwork of women jewelers and metalsmiths in Wisconsin;
• Examine their work and its evolution and influence;
• Consider the role of education and mentorship in their professional development;
• Increase public awareness of their contributions; and
• Inspire further scholarship into the lives and work of these pioneering artists.

Central to this project will be the Women of Metal exhibition opening in September 2008. Project co-curators Teresa Faris and Susan Messer also plan a week of public events at the same time, including a visiting artists panel (which Eleanor Moty will participate in; her work will also be featured in the exhibition), an illustrated lecture by American Craft Council Fellow and UW-Whitewater Professor Emeritus Linda Threadgill, and a two-day studio workshop conducted by Marcia Lewis, now a California-based artist, author, and professor who previously led the UW-Whitewater metals program.

In addition, the project will feature two permanent records: a comprehensive exhibition catalog and an oral history archive that will be housed in the University library.