As summer ends and autumn begins, we hope you
are enjoying nature's seasonal transition. This
newsletter brings transition
news for AJF with announcement of our new
2008 Board of Directors.
We finish our two-part interview with the Boston
MFA's Kelly L'Ecuyer, and renew our interviews with
current Board members. In May we interviewed Jo
Lauria focusing on her work as Curator
for "Craft in America" exhibition. This month we put
Rika Mouw "in the forum". AJF thrives because of the
creative energy of our board members, in
the months ahead we'll hear from Elizabeth Shypertt
and Pat Rodimer.
Another transition to note, next month Jane Shannon
will assume responsibility for "AJFconnection".
Jane is
a world traveler, a terrific
writer, and a long-time member of AJF. Surely, Jane
will catch the typos I regularly missed, correctly spell
artists names I flubbed and enjoy doing this
newsletter as much as I did, hopefully more, certainly
better. Thank you Jane for raising your hand
to volunteer. Sally von Bargen
One Board Transitions to Another |
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AJF President Pat Rodimer announced the
approval of the new 2008 Board of Directors. Susan
Cummins, a founding member of AJF will serve as
President, the Treasurer position is to be filled by Sally
von Bargen, Susan Kempin becomes Secretary,
and communication duties will be handled by Jane
Shannon.
The incoming board assumes responsibility in
January. Pat, who has served as AJF
president for the past 7 years, commented: "We look
forward to exciting
new plans when the new board takes over, until then
we'll work together on a smooth transition."
Outgoing board members Pat Rodimer, Elizabeth
Shypertt, Jo
Lauria and Rika Mouw have done an masterful
job and leave AJF better for their service, job well done.
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Catch it at the Met |
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
features "One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement,"
through Dec. 2, 2007. The exhibit, shown in the
Modern Art, Design, and Architecture Gallery on the
first floor, showcases approximately 50 works from
the Met's collection, including furniture, ceramics,
glass, metalwork, jewelry, and fiber. The Met's
calendar bulletin notes the studio craft movement
developed in the U.S. in the post-World War II years.
The bulletin continues, "By the 1970s in both Europe
and the United States, a shifting political climate and
an 'anything goes' art scene encouraged a new
freedom in artistic expression. Artists working with
traditional materials began to experiment with new
materials and techniques, producing bold, abstract,
and sculptural art."
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Our Conversation with Kelly L'Ecuyer - Part II |
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We conclude Susan Cummins' conversation with MFA
Boston curator, Kelly L'Ecuyer in this newsletter.
Susan: What are your plans for the Farago
collection in the
future?
Kelly: The exhibition was organized quickly, in
museum terms, opening just about a year after we
acquired the collection. We are in the unusual
position of opening the exhibition sooner and
publishing the catalogue later, so that we have more
time to do research for the catalogue, which will be
published in 2010. The book will place this jewelry in
a broader art historical context and trace the history of
studio jewelry in the twentieth century.
In the meantime, the MFA's entire collection, including
the Farago jewelry collection, is accessible on the
Museum's website, www.mfa.org. You can go to
Collections/Advanced Search and put in an artist's
last name to see our cataloging records at any time.
Not all the images are available yet, but they are
published on the web as quickly as objects are
photographed and our rights and licensing
department can get permission from the artists and
copyright-holders.
The jewelry from the collection will be displayed in the
future in several different ways. The MFA is building a
new American Wing, to open in 2010, and selections
of modernist jewelry will appear in our gallery of art of
the 1940s and 1950s. This will put the work of
jewelers Betty Cooke, Paul Lobel, Art Smith, and
others in a gallery with abstract paintings and
sculpture, Eames chairs, and other art and design
from the period.
An exciting development occurred last fall, several
months after we acquired the Farago collection, when
one of our trustees (AJF member Susan Kaplan)
endowed a jewelry curatorship.
Yvonne Markowitz, who has been with the MFA for
many years in the ancient Egyptian department, was
appointed curator of jewelry. She has general
oversight of jewelry across all departments of the
Museum, and in 2011, when the MFA's west wing is
renovated, she will install a new gallery devoted to
jewelry from all cultures and time periods. Some of
the Farago collection will be featured in that gallery
along with jewelry from other areas of our collection.
With the current exhibition and its extensive brochure,
our website, the Farago lecture series, and the future
gallery installations, we feel that we are presenting
studio jewelry to the widest possible audience -- and
that is what Daphne has wanted all along.
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Thoughts on Wearing and Giving |
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This year AJF took a bold step. We offered our
members two trips instead of one, first to Boston for
the opening of the Farago collection at the Boston
MFA; and this month 25 AJF members will gather in
Houston for the premier of the Helen Drutt collection at
the MFAH. Organizing one trip is a complex endeavor;
organizing two in one year verges on insane. What
would have us go to such effort? The fundamental
answer, simply put is, "the giving of gifts." Helen Drutt
and Daphne Farago gave gifts, and we honor them
and the jewelry art form through our visits to the
museums.
Many of us may not have the means or inclination to
collect on the scale these gifts represent. Yet, there
are many other ways to give. As you think about your
collection or ways you might give consider the many
options listed below. Due to the sometimes complex
technical nature of tax law or estate planning, you
should explore the intricacies of these types of gifts
with your attorney and tax advisor. Our list is designed
to stimulate your creativity by revealing the
possibilities.
- Grants and Sponsorships
- Gifts of Life Insurance
- Gifts of Real Estate
- Gifts of Retirement Funds
- Charitable Trusts
- Bequests of Works of Art
- Gifts of Cash
Lastly, consider the gift of your time: take a curator out
to lunch, become a
docent specializing in jewelry exhibitions or share your
collection with students at a local college art
department. The ways of giving time are
endless. Your time is the most precious gift of all.
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A Little Something to Think About |
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"The combination between jewelry and art is not
always obvious. Jewelry means service to a defined
function, realized in a suitable material, with extremely
good taste. Art is first an expression, and cannot be
motivated only by aesthetics. In art story and plot are
interwoven with something hiding. But a jewelry piece
can, like art, be narrative, abstract, socially moving or
rebellious, reactionary or simply tender. Real jewelry
is real art. The jewelry wearer is expected to think
about the vision of the artists and furthermore
propagate it."
Jan Walgrave, quoted from "20 Jahre -- Galerie
Spektrum" 2001
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IMAGE CREDITS from top to bottom
- Portrait of AJF Member Rika Mouw.
- Maria Philips, 'Spires', Neckpiece, 2001,
enamel,sterling silver, promised to the Tacoma Art
Museum, photographed by Doug Yaple.
- Portrait of Kelly L'Ecuyer, Assistant Curartor of
Decorative Arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
- Kelly Nedderman, 'Double Pendant', Necklace,
sterling silver, optical lenses, handmade paper.
- Snapshot of Rika Mouw with artists and friends:
Nancy Worden, Ron Ho, and Ramona Solberg.
- Sophie Hanagarth, Untitled, Necklace, formed
sheet iron beads strung on steel cable.
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In the Forum: Rika Mouw |
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Homer Alaska is a fishing and art community near
Bristol Bay. The vast and breathtakingly beautiful
Bristol Bay ecosystem is home to immense fisheries,
the world's largest concentration of brown bears,
massive herds of caribou and countless species of
migratory birds. Homer is where artist and
conservation advocate Rika Mouw lives. Rika makes
and collects jewelry. As Rika ends her term on the AJF
board, we invited her to share with us her thoughts
about collecting and images of her favorite pieces.
Rika was interviewed, via email by Sally von Bargen
Sally: Rika, how did you learn about AJF and
what
motivated you to join?
Rika: I first learned about AJF in 1999 through
a notice
in Ornament Magazine about an upcoming art jewelry
collector's trip in San Francisco. I contacted
then president, Sharon Campbell, about the trip. It
was exciting to learn there was actually a group of
people who sought out art jewelry, was serious about
learning more about it and collecting it. I felt like the
trip was planned just for me.Being a member of AJF
has been enormously enriching for me on many
levels. I have gained meaningful friendships
interesting, wonderful people who share my passion.
The yearly trips have broadened my experience of the
art jewelry field and taught me more than I could have
imagined. Not only about art jewelry, but its support
network of universities, museums, galleries,
collectors and dealers. I have been exposed to art in
different parts of the world that wouldn't have been
possible otherwise.
Sally: Art Jewelry lovers often have an "ah-ha
moment", a specific recollection about how they
discovered it, will you share yours?
Rika: I first became aware of art jewelry in the
mid
80's when I attended a New Art Forms Expo before it
became SOFA. I was drawn to the Susan Cummins
Gallery booth where I experienced an 'ah-ha' moment
right then and there. I remember seeing Pat Flynn's
work with his use of rusted steel set with diamonds.
From that experience I viewed jewelry as an art form
and have been drawn to it ever since. . Thank you
Susan for being there and opening up this world to
me!
Sally: What do you enjoy most about art
jewelry?
Rika: I am a hopeless art addict. What I love
about art
jewelry is that its scale allows me to wear it as well as
display more of it than most other art forms. I love that
I can wear art and make a statement. I often wear
particular pieces for specific occasions in order to
create dialog. I particularly enjoy that art jewelry has
a 'voice' and I love using it in that sense.
Sally: Tell us about your collection and how it
developed.
As a maker, I started purchasing old ethnic jewelry
and rare beads
about 20 years ago. Since then I've purchased pieces
that caught my design sense, it never occurred to me
to 'collect' per se. During my first AJF trip in 1999 the
idea of 'collecting' materialized for me. My collection
has developed and changed through my exposure by
the AJF trips over the years. It has grown quite a bit
and somewhat eclectically. It is a collection that is now
primarily contemporary work that includes pieces by
well recognized artists as well as emerging from all
over the world. I am intrigued with the inventive uses of
organic materials so I have many pieces made with
wood, paper, plant materials and fibers. Most pieces
have a 'voice' that resonates with me. Others works
are pieces made by artists I know and admire, making
them important to me to have in my possession. It is
not a particularly large collection, perhaps 50 pieces,
but each one has special meaning to me.
Sally: Do have a long term plan for your
collection?
Rika: Because my collection is as eclectic as
it is, I do
not see it as one that will stay intact. Several pieces I
intend to be given to appropriate jewelry collecting
museums. Other pieces will likely go to other
private collections. Several pieces are promised to
friends.
Sally: Last question, any advice for other art
jewelry
collectors?
As with anything I think the more informed you are
about your subject matter, the better choices you will
make and the more you will gain out of the experience.
Collecting is educational and it is truly enjoyable. It is
a journey actually. No matter the size of one's
collection I think it is a good idea to keep as much
information about each piece as possible. A file with
this information will always be helpful either to
yourself or whomever your pieces will be passed on
to. Have fun with it. I just have to say that for any art
jewelry collector, the Art Jewelry Forum is a great
place from which to learn, share and interact with
others who have this passion. Art jewelry 'speaks' and
I guess I love the sense of voice it projects, wearing it
connects me with the maker and my 'art tribe'.
Among the photos Rika sent for this
newsletter was this photograph of a cherished
memory. Rika told me, "the picture was taken in
March of 2005 when Nancy had her fabulous solo
show at the William Travers Gallery. I was in Seattle
for the opening. Ramona had recently gotten out of
the hospital from her heart surgery and was able to
socialize on a limited basis. She very much wanted
to attend Nancy's opening but was not strong enough
for that, but we decided to get together for a special
dinner at Ron Ho's house. It was a very special time.
Ramona even made the dessert. If my memory
serves me right, it was her famous strawberry cream
pie. Ron and Ramona have a long history together
and of course Nancy has a long connection with
Ramona as well" -- a memory worth sharing.
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