Archive for March, 2016
How to Make a Living as a Jeweler
Listen to episode #32 of Thrive by Design as Tracy Matthews interviews SNAG Executive Director Gwynne Rukenbrod Smith.
Download/listen to the podcast How to Make a Living as a Jeweler, read the quick notes, or even access the show notes all right here.
SNAG in American Craft
Have you seen the April/May 2016 issue of American Craft magazine?
SNAG Executive Director Gwynne Rukenbrod Smith is interviewed about the upcoming SNAGneXt conference and other work SNAG is doing. Be sure to pick up a copy of the issue!
2016 Election Candidates
SNAG is happy to introduce the 2016 slate of SNAG election candidates! There are candidates for the Board, President, and Nominations & Elections Committee. Voting takes place in May.
New Communications & Marketing Coordinator
SNAG is excited to announce Emma Zanetti as our new Communications and Marketing Coordinator.
This newly developed position will focus on SNAG’s communications and marketing efforts under the direction of the Executive Director. Emma will oversee SNAG’s advertising, press releases, Springboard listings, social media initiatives, promotion of the organization’s development efforts, and the Communications and Marketing Committee.
Emma Zanetti is an arts administrator and metalsmith who lives and works in Asheville, NC. Emma has previously held positions in arts administration and marketing, and worked in fine art galleries, auction houses, and art museums. Emma recently decided to jump-start her metalsmithing career after inheriting a complete metal studio from a close family member and recently attended a two-month metal concentration at Penland School of Crafts where she honed her skills. When she’s not learning new metalsmithing techniques, working in her studio, or prepping for shows, Emma enjoys traveling and hiking in the mountains of North Carolina.
“We are fortunate to be able to hire someone with great marketing skills, like Emma, to help us promote the exciting work SNAG does for the international metalsmithing community. Emma’s background and experience will allow SNAG to reach further into the field of jewelry and metals, expand our membership and subscribership, and help us create continued sustainability for SNAG,” says Gwynne Rukenbrod Smith, Executive Director. “Hiring for this position was an important goal in our organization’s strategic plan, and the board and staff of SNAG are looking forward to working with Emma.”
Please help us welcome Emma!
SNAG would like to take this opportunity to recognize our Corporate Members for their support: Aaron Faber Gallery, Halstead, NextFab, and Pocosin Arts.
2016 SNAG Lifetime Achievement Award, Gary Noffke
SNAG is pleased to announce the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Gary Noffke.
Born in August 1943, Gary Lee Noffke grew up in the small town of Sullivan, IL. He received a Bachelor’s (1965) and Master’s degree (1966) in Education from Eastern Illinois University.
While he initially studied painting, he shifted his focus to metal, earning a Master’s of Fine Arts in metalworking from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1969. Studying under Brent Kington, Noffke was influenced by abstract expressionism, attacking the surface of his metal objects with obsessive and intricate detail consisting of stars, letterforms, arrows, crosses, dollar signs, eyes, and other significant symbols.
Known for his versatility, technical prowess, and originality, Noffke is a blacksmith, coppersmith, silversmith, goldsmith, and toolmaker. He has produced gold and silver hollowware, cutlery, jewelry, and forged steelware. Noffke is noted for his technical versatility, his pioneering research into hot forging, the introduction of new alloys, and his ability to both build on and challenge traditional techniques. He has been called the metalsmith’s metalsmith, a pacesetter, and a maverick.
In 1971, he accepted a position at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens. Noffke devoted himself to the development of UGA’s jewelry and metals program and helped launch the Jewelry and Metals Studies Abroad curriculum in Cortona, Italy. As an educator he has mentored an entire generation of metalsmiths. Today he is retired from formal teaching and lives and works at his studio in Farmington, Georgia.
During the course of his career Noffke received numerous awards and honors. In 2005, Noffke was selected as one of the Fifty Outstanding Alumni of Fifty Years of Graduate Education by Eastern Illinois University. In 2001, he was elected to the College of Fellows by the American Craft Council; in 1990, he was honored with an NEA Visual Artist Fellowship in Craft,; and in 1988, he became Master Metalsmith of the Year, a distinction awarded by the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, TN.
From April to September 2011, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, presented a major retrospective of his work, Attitude and Alchemy: The Metalwork of Gary Lee Noffke. This exhibition was the first major museum-organized project about Noffke and featured over 120 pieces of his oeuvre, including silver and gold hollowware, flatware, jewelry, and objects forged in steel.
“Gary Noffke’s contributions to the field of metalsmithing are undeniable: from his commitment to the rich historical traditions of his craft, to his maverick nature, he has consistently mined the possibilities presented by the creation of hollowware, jewelry and flatware with his own brand of irreverent virtuosity. His dedication to smithing, teaching, and research have inspired generations of metalsmiths and introduced us all to the potential of hot-forging silver and gold.” –2016 Lifetime Achievement Award Committee: Lola Brooks, Kim Cridler, and Bruce Pepich
The 2016 SNAGneXt conference will be dedicated to Gary and he will receive his award during the Opening Remarks in Asheville, NC on May 19, 2016.