JEWELRY IN AMERICA CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED
The Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts (ASJRA) has announced its fifteenth annual conference will be held on Saturday, April 4, 2020, at the 92nd Street Y, located at 1395 Lexington Avenue (at 92nd St.), in New York City. This year’s conference theme is “Jewelry in America.”
Matilija Poppy brooch by Tom Herman/Seven Fingers and Patsy Croft. Gold and plique-a-jour enamel.
The conference is open to anyone who is interested in jewelry and the study of jewelry history.
The conference speakers include:
Keynote Speaker: Beth Wees, Jewelry for America. Beth Wees is the Ruth Bigelow Wriston Curator of American Decorative Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
John Nels Hatleberg, An Affinity for Gems, John is a conceptual gem artist recognized for the diversity of his work with jewels and the creation of exact replicas of famous diamonds since 1987.
Jeannine Falino, The Circle and the Line, Over 70 Years of Designs by Betty Cooke. Jeannine is an independent curator and scholar. She is curating a retrospective of Betty Cooke’s work for the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
Tom Herman, Analyzing Plique-a-Jour Jewelry by Marcus & Co. and the Montilja Poppy Brooch Project, Tom is a well-known artisan goldsmith.
Lois Sherr Dubin, Floral Journey: Native North American Flower Beadwork. Lois is known for her publications including the History of Beads: From 30,000 B.C. to the Present and North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment and for exhibitions she has curated.
Elyse Zorn Karlin (three mini lectures) The Jewelry of Peter Lindenauer, The Work of Robert Lee Morris, Diamond Jim Brady. Elyse is the co-director of ASJRA, author of several jewelry books, and a freelance curator.
An additional speaker will be announced shortly.
Optional Study Day
ASJRA also offers a Study Day, which is limited to only 25 people. It will take place on Friday, April 3. It includes a curator’s tour of the exhibition Jewelry for America with Beth Carver Wees. The exhibition is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Study Day takes place in the the last few days the exhibition is open. The day also includes a group luncheon, and a guided tour of the Mt. Vernon Hotel Museum located on the East Side of Manhattan. The structure was built in 1799 and run as a hotel from 1826-1833. The building endures as a rare reminder of an important era in New York City’s history.
“Diamond” Jim Brady” (James Buchanan) circa 1900. Photographer unknown, in the public domain.
About the Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts
ASJRA’s co-directors are Yvonne Markowitz, Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry Emerita, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Elyse Zorn Karlin, jewelry historian, author, and freelance curator.
ASJRA is dedicated to the advancement of jewelry studies and committed to the dissemination of knowledge to anyone who is interested in the history of jewelry. ASJRA takes a broad approach to the subject, seeking to understand and place jewelry within a variety of contexts, including from the ancient past to present day, the decorative arts, and fashion.
It uses jewelry as a window into the study of cultures and specific time periods and to learn about politics, cultural changes, world events.
One of its most important activities is organizing an annual event as a forum for curators, academic historians, and scholars and artists to present new and interesting information about jewelry. Anyone who is interested in jewelry will enjoy attending. It’s a chance to learn and network with people who collect, appraise, study and research jewelry history.
To learn more or register go to:
For further information please contact:
Elyse Zorn Karlin
5070 Bonnie Branch Rd.
Ellicott City, MD 21043
410.465.8775 (during business hours)
