School Articles

AJF is committed to supporting the field of contemporary art jewelry at all levels, including jewelers who have just graduated and are at the beginning of their careers. In this section of the website, you will find a variety of texts exploring the issues facing recent jewelry graduates from around the world.

22 April 2012

Cranbrook's Metalsmithing Department: The Story Behind Monomater

Davira S Taragin

At its most basic level, Monomater posed a challenge to current Cranbrook students in the metalsmithing department and a few select alumni: think differently about contemporary jewelry. Eichenberg’s concept involved asking them to create a cogent statement in one material; if multiple materials were used, they had to have similar sensibilities. The idea was based upon Eichenberg’s view that jewelry today is primarily about collage. She first made this assessment several years ago when she saw a brooch fabricated from antler bone by Barcelona jeweler Gemma Draper whom she subsequently invited to study at Cranbrook. more...

14 October 2011

The Victory of Non-Precious Handwork: The Marzee Graduation Exhibition 2011

Liesbeth den Besten

It is interesting to see that more and more schools all over the world offer jewelry courses, but the result is not particularly enriching in terms of renewal of concepts and methods. We may wonder where all these young jewelers will end up. The Marzee graduation show is not a predictor of who is going to make it in the future. You cannot extract from two or three pieces if a jeweler is really talented, if he or she has enough guts, ideas and endurance to go deeply, if a jewelry infrastructure will develop in Asia and if there are enough clients for so many jewels. Life only starts after graduating. more...

26 July 2010

Adornment Assignment: Broochmania

Valeria Vallarta Siemelink

The title, as commonly happens, came before the collection was even created. Karen Pontoppidan, jeweler and head of the Ädellab (the jewelry department of the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm) envisioned a project that involved students of her academy from the first year to recently graduated masters students. Rob Koudijs, owner and manager of the Amsterdam-based gallery hosting Broochmania, welcomed the idea with the open and daring attitude that characterizes his exhibitions. Through a series of five workshops, the Ädellab students had studied the history and diverse facets of brooches. The students were then encouraged to translate their recent experiences in brooches that would be suitable for exhibition in a prestigious gallery. more...

03 March 2010

To Be: (Determined) - An Exhibition of the First Five

Yumi Janairo Roth

As I visited this exhibition I couldn't help but think of Cornelia Parker, an artist who reveres craft, but only as a means to its unmaking. Conversely, the work in this exhibition presents emerging artists who have honed their craft, honoring the history of their materials and the esoteric knowledge necessary to produce the range of objects on display. Where an artist like Parker subverts the history of craft through grand gestures of destruction, the jewelers in this exhibition subvert the history of metalsmithing through their use of quotidian materials and their representation of seemingly inconsequential actions, all the while maintaining a dedication to their discipline. more...

01 November 2009

A Craftsperson's Experience Within a Fine Art Program

Ahna Adair

I chose to attend California College of the Arts in San Francisco, because of its enthusiasm for cross-disciplinary exploration and its emphasis on a greater awareness of the global context of contemporary art. Rooted in critically engaged studio practice, the program explores both the specifics of particular disciplines and the points of interaction and overlap among disciplines. more...