Marc Monzó Lecture at Studio 4903

Studio 4903 cordially invites you to a lecture and slide
show by Marc Monzó, contemporary
jewelry artist from Barcelona.
Thursday, March 6 @ 7pm

Studio 4903
4903 Wisconsin Ave., NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20016
202.248.8770

Monzó's lecture & slide show is presented in conjunction with JEWELERSWERK Galerie. The exhibit is at JEWELERSWERK from March 7 - 28.
Artist's reception March 7, 6 - 8pm. 3319 Cady’s Alley NW, WDC 202.337.3319

Must View Video

This video is a must view.

Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Melon University:
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

Randy Pausch's website where there is a full version of this video:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

And another by Randy:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758

Enjoy.

Additional SNAG Conference Student Scholarships

Great news! In addition to the four SNAG Conference Student Scholarships Towson University was already awarded, there are more available. If you are interested please let me know ASAP. For more info go to www.snagmetalsmith.org. Conferences are a great way to expand your horizons and learn more about the field. It will change your life and education.
TAKE THIS GENEROUS OPPORTUNITY!

Rebecca Dortzbach, Lizzy Hanner, Suzi Fitz and Jo Hayden are going. Talk to them about it if you have questions.

Go!

Micro Monumnetal Exhibtion

Reminder that work for the Micro-Monumental Exhibition Exchange is due March 6.
Scale parameters: 14cm x 8 cm x 5 cm- maximum. This is a unique and great opportunity.
The work will be exhibited in Baltimore, South Korea, China and Japan.

Opportunity is Knocking on Your Door.

Hasboro Toy Company Portfolio Reviews

Hasboro toy company will be on campus in the Department of Art on Friday Match 14th looking at student portfolios. They are looking for student interns to work in the toy industry. The toy industry and the metals + jewelry field frequently overlap. The common ground is small scale work and detail oriented work. If you are interested let me know ASAP.

Get Interested!

Check Out Eliza's Blog

Check out this blog from Eliza Mundy, TU Metals + Jewelry alumni....so much great stuff: www.12linden.blogspot.com Thanks, Eliza!

Crosscurrents: Navigating Toward New Markets

On Monday, March 3rd from 5-6pm, Megan Auman will present a lecture on navigating new markets. This is the same presentation that she is giving at the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference. So especially if you aren't going to the conference this year, catch this presentation at Towson.
See you all there.

Discussion: Doing the Shows- Monday, February 25, 5-6pm

On Monday, February 25 from 5-6pm in CA 2006, we will have a casual discussion about various aspects of "doing the shows". Many of you assisted exhibitors at this past week's ACC show and may have questions and ideas about the shows. I have asked Megan Auman to share experiences from the New York Gift Fair which she did earlier this month which is a very different show than the American Craft Council show that we just saw last week. Megan will also share some very valuable experiences with you all about her experiences at ACC.

You are all very fortunate as undergraduate and graduate students to be able to access the big trade shows and the artists/designers who exhibit at them. The shows are a primary venue for making a living off of your work.....please be smart and learn as much as you can about this while you are a student.

I hope to see everyone there. Bring a notebook.
Jan

Field Trip Pics

These are some pics of the jewelry collection at the Luce Center.

Luce Center

Deborah found this link to a panoramic view of the Luce Center where we visited on Saturday in DC. We also went to the Jeweler's Werk gallery in Georgetown. 

The Foundation Department at Tyler School of Art presents:

“What We Learned: Janet Koplos & Bruce Metcalf
Discuss Writing a History of American Craft.”

Join us as co-authors Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf discuss the writing of their upcoming book "Makers: A History of American Studio Craft" (University of North Carolina Press). Their book has been identified as the number one priority in advancing craft in academia and the curatorial world.

Janet Koplos is a senior editor at Art in America, where she has been since 1990. Since 1976 she has published more than 2,000 articles, art reviews and essays internationally. Among other texts, she is the author of Contemporary Japanese Sculpture (New York, Abbeville Press, 1991) and The Unexpected (Museum Het Kruithuis, the Netherlands, 1997).

Bruce Metcalf has been described as the "Socratic gadfly of metalsmithing" by art historian Sean Licka. He received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in 1977. He has contributed to a number of craft theory anthologies, including Exploring Contemporary Craft (Coach House Books, 2002) and NeoCraft: Modernity and the Crafts (Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, 2007). He has received two NEA Visual Artists Fellowships, three Ohio Arts Council Fellowships, a Fulbright Teaching & Research Fellowship, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts. His jewelry has been exhibited internationally, and has been published in a number of books on contemporary studio jewelry. Metcalf’s work is held in numerous public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design in New York and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.


Wednesday, February 27th, 2008, 6:30pm
Tyler School of Art: President’s Hall Auditorium


This event is free and open to the public
Sponsored by the Foundation Department at Tyler School of Art
For information: 215-782-2894 / shanker@temple.edu

Cool Site!

Hey, click here to check out an awesome site!

Friday Night Film Series

Towson Presbyterian Church (400 W. Chesapeake Ave) is hosting a free friday night film series on human rights and social justice from 7-9pm each friday.
Dates and Shows are:
2/22- Darfur Diaries
2/29- Omagh-(N. Ireland)
3/7- Bringing Down a Dictator(Yugoslavia)
3/14- The Road to Guantanamo

Conflict Stone


Here are some pages Rebecca found that are interesting:
EURweb
Pro HipHop- Blingtastic
Bling: A Planet Rock
Black Blood vs. Bling
Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst was not intentionally making any comment on conflict stones, he bought his stones from the Bently and Skinner. Because of the Blood Diamond issue Hirst's skull " now has the potential to be about death in a more literal way." make note this was not his intention.

Blood Diamonds- Sierra Leone
A Jewelry Co. That uses ecogold and conflict free stones:
Itali Lambertini Jewelry

Washington DC Trip Info-February 16th

This is an outline of how we will be traveling to DC. Included is a map of the bus routes we will be taking, also listed is the route we will be driving from Towson to DC.
When you arrive at school at 9:30 meet in 2015.

Acc Show- Map of Light Rail

For anyone having trouble finding a map of the light rail stops, here it is again.

ACC show

Everyone who is not planning to carpool to the ACC show Thursday February 21st should meet at the Pratt street entrance to the convention center at 9:30. The show opens at 10:00am. For those who are meeting at school to carpool meet in 2015 at 9:00.

Another Blood Diamond?

So all this talk about Blood Diamonds got me thinking about Elizabeth Taylor's diamonds, and in particular the Krupp Diamond.

"The Krupp diamond gets its name from actress Vera Krupp, the original owner of the diamond, who belonged to the famous Krupp family, owners of Krupp AG, the industrial giant of Germany, that was one of the world's principal steel makers and arms manufacturers until the end of World War II. Established in 1811 by Friedrich Krupp, the company was the first to introduce the Bessemer and the Open-Hearth steel making processes on the European Continent. The company became internationally famous during world war I, by manufacturing guns, such as the 16.5 in (420mm) howitzer called the "Big Bertha" and the long range gun that in the spring of 1918 bombarded Paris from a distance of about 75 miles (120 Km).

During the second world war Adolf Hitler, used the company to produce military hardware needed for his military conquests. The Krupp Combine manufactured submarines, trucks, locomotives, and warships, in addition to artillery and munitions. After world war II, at the Nuremburg trial, Alfred Krupp, the chairman of the company was convicted of war crimes, specifically for the employment of slave labor. The company was re-organized in the 1950s, and eventually became one of the largest companies in West Germany, manufacturing steel, heavy machinery, transportation equipment, automotive parts and assembly and industrial plants. . . .

The next important item of jewelry he {Richard Burton} bought for Taylor was the famous, 33.19-carat, asscher-cut Krupp diamond, set in a platinum ring, which is the subject of this narrative. In her book "Elizabeth Taylor-My Love Affair with Jewelry"{yes, I actually own this book, it was on sale and it's not a bad read}, Taylor says, 'the Krupp diamond was owned by Vera Krupp of the famous German munitions family, which helped knock off millions of Jews. When it came up for auction in the late 1960s, I thought how nice it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it.' "

From http://www.internetstones.com/krupp-diamond-famous-jewelry.html

This makes me wonder: If the means by which you earned the money to buy the diamond are unethical, is it a "blood diamond" regaurdless of it's orgins?

End of Suburbia/Extra Credit

I just read a few of your extra credit papers on The End of Suburbia and am reminded of how important these issues are and I am glad that I gave you the extra credit opportunity. Discussion is important- thinking about the issues.

A few questions I have for those of you who have seen this movie is: Who made the movie? I.E. whose opinion is being espoused? What are the movie makers credentials? Always check the authority of the voice. Do you feel like The End of Suburbia is fear-mongering? When you read a book, a magazine article, see a movie, know who is espousing the ideas...what are their qualifications?

Design is everywhere. A mantra from last semester: 'everything except the planets and the trees has been designed". This includes our cities, our suburbs, our cars, our mass transit systems, all of our social systems, marketing campaigns (DeBeers diamond campaign). It is all design. You are creative. You can imagine better solutions.

Most of you recognize the situation as having some truth to it. One criticism I have heard about the film is that no alternatives were proposed, it didn't seem hopeful or that we could find solutions. I would encourage you all to look to other countries who are more progressive and forward thinking than the US is. Which countries? What are they doing? How do they organize living? How does one find out about such things? READING WORLD NEWS. I listed on your syllabi The World Press' website. Other reputable news media are The Guardian out of the UK, Le Monde out of Paris. The New York Times is delivered to YOUR campus daily throughout the semester. And I personally like The Economist magazine. Magazines and newspapers have the most current information. Everyone has too much competing for their time. Create a habit. First thing in the morning you grab coffee and the NY Times. If you can only read one issue of the NY Times, read the Sunday edition. Split the cost with friends.

I would suggest you look at The Netherlands, Belgium, the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland). Coincidently (?) the socially progressive countries are progressive in many ways, including the creative industries. Check it out. Check out the blogs of students in class with me last semester. Those in Metals + Jewelry 2 last semester, studied Droog Design Collective based in the Netherlands (and started by a famous art jeweler) and Materialise based in Belgium. My point: There is hope. There are lots of smart people doing ground breaking work all around the world- find out and be heartened.

3D Design + Social Issues, the special topics course that I ran last semester addressed all kinds of issues. I want to educate and motivate creative people to understand a variety of current issues and come up with new approaches to some of the challenges we face today. What can you do? Check out my blog associated with the 3D Design + Social Issues course: designlikeyougiveadamn.blogspot.com. Let me know if you are interested in the course.

I was recently at a conference that centered around new technologies and how we develop educational curriculum in conjunction with technological developments. One of the participants worked for GM developing the electric car. The only reason the electric car is not a reality today is b/c the oil companies bought the information to keep it under wraps and continue to fund their businesses. I say shame on GM for selling the information. Have some backbone. How much money do people really need? Happiness, contentment, a satisfied, fulfilling life does not come from gross amounts of money.

Be an educated citizen of a world super power! If any group of individuals around the world can affect change, Americans can. We are in the midst of an election- what do the candidates really stand for? Who are your local politicians.....they are the ones who shape policy. They represent YOU. "No taxation without representation" is America's battle cry. Be an educated consumer. America is business. As consumers, we can yield tremendous power....if we can move out of our cushy, affluent lifestyles and make an effort. Live your life so that you are proud of who you are. Be hopeful. Take Action.

I recently watched the documentary Energy War on the Sundance Channel. I highly recommend it. A central voice is Thomas Freidman author of The World is Flat and The Lexus and The Olive Tree, two important and recent books. It is scheduled to air again this Sunday, 3:35- 5:00pm on the Sundance Channel, channel #165.
Educate Yourself!

Keeping In Touch/ Craft Blog

Hello Folks, Hisano Takei is a recent alumni (MFA) from SUNY New Paltz one of the most prominent metals + jewelry programs in the US. She applied for grad school at Towson and b/c of the building project decided to go to SUNY New Paltz but she has stayed in touch with me. Smart networking. The field is small: when you meet someone from the field in one context you have no idea how and when they will come around again. Be nice. Stay in touch. Anyway, here is some of her current work featured on a craft blog: craftgossip.com. Enjoy!

NY Gift Fair Report

One of our faculty members, Megan Auman recently exhibited at the NY Gift Fair in New York City. It is a huge show, nothing like the ACC show in Baltimore which feels big to us/craftspeople. I used to shop this show as a buyer while managing a gallery in Philadelphia so I am curious to hear the details from Megan. I thought many of you would also be interested in this conversation as well. We are shooting for Monday, February, 18th, 5-6pm in one of the studios, probably 2006. We are constrained by schedules- Megan is only in Baltimore on Mondays and has a class at 6pm- so if you could make some arrangements, I feel fairly certain you will get something out of it.

Let me know if you are interested and are planning to attend.
Let me know.
Thanks,
Jan

Snag Educational Endowment Scholarship Award

Ellen Harper- history lessons. MFA Thesis Exhibition Thursday Feb 7, 7:30-9:00

Snag Scholarship Opportunity

The 2008 SNAG Conference Student Scholarship program and are currently at the campaigning stage for donations. With a very large amount of scholarship money already donated by renowned jeweler Todd Reed and a possible corporate sponsorship, we are
aiming for the best year yet with the most student scholarships awarded.

Some colleges and universities have already responded to announcements
they've seen regarding this year's scholarship program and have responded regarding
their interest in participating. The only way we can award a student from
any school is if we receive notice of participation from a jewelry professor
or head of department via email.

In the past two years of this program's existence, not one school that has
asked for a scholarship has been denied. We have always received enough
donation money to cover at least one student from each participating
college/university. The scholarship will cover the conference fee and will
allow the awarded students entrance into the conference in Savannah, Georgia
for FREE. Travel expenses, lodging and food are still the responsibility of
the students, so please make sure they are aware of the necessary "extras".
If you have already registered for the conference, you are still
eligible for the scholarship. If that situation should arise, SNAG will
refund the admission fee after the conference as they have in previous
years.

(Students could just register, and then SNAG will reimburse them.)

Responses must be received no later than Wednesday, February 13th, 2008. Any
responses received after that date will not be accepted, due to fairness of
those who respond within the deadline.

blood diamonds are forever