New York City Jewelry Week: Metal faculty, students and alumni present at metro exhibition

Several SUNY New Paltz alumni, faculty and current students are participating in the inaugural New York City Jewelry Week (NYCJW) taking place Nov. 12 to 18 at various locations throughout the New York metro area.

The event will offer exhibitions, lectures, workshops, tours and collaborations between some of New York’s most respected jewelry professionals and businesses.

“NYCJW is important because it will bring together the often disparate voices of the NYC jewelry communities, and will offer an opportunity for conversations between all types of jewelry,” said Jonathan Wahl ’94g (Metal), director of the Jewelry Center at the 92nd Street Y who sits on the NYCJW advisory board.

Wahl says his New Paltz education “was invaluable and prepared me to become the artist I am today. The use of craft as a medium for critical commentary shaped the way I think about jewelry and the decorative arts.”

Amelia Toelke ’05 (Metal) has a solo presentation at NYCJW called Gem Friends, which will include recent and current work created using gouache on paper as well as selections from her Gem Face series, which playfully pieces together jewelry to form expressive faces. Toelke will also participate in a group exhibition called #fail#success, which showcases social media as a tool in the creative process.

“I am excited that the Week brings together so many communities within jewelry, from fine jewelry to one-of-a-kind conceptual wearable artworks,” said Toelke. “I think this will create an unprecedented opportunity for conversation and dialogue. On a personal note, I am thrilled to show a diverse group of work that, while not wearable, continues to draw upon my early training in jewelry and metalsmithing.”

Several other Fine & Performing Arts alumni from the Metal program will also be exhibiting work and participating in NYCJW, including Heidi Lowe ’02g, Jennifer Trask ’97g, Lola Brooks ’97, Missy Graff Ballone ’13g, Sergey Jivetin ’01g and NYCJW advisory board members Erin Daily ’02g and Brian Weissman ’04.

SUNY New Paltz is an official partner of NYCJW, and the College’s metal program will present an exhibit called denizen in the historic Hotel Chelsea at 234 W 23 St. The artists—current MFA candidates Sylvie Alusitz, Min Jae Eom, Stefan Gougherty, Xiao Chen, Betsy Lewis, Ruizhi Li, Jolynn Santiago, Jamie Scherzer and Kehan Wan; current BFA candidates Julia Betts, Zhike Gan, Liz Leupold, Irene Raptopoulos, and Alejandra Salinas; and New Paltz faculty members (and alumni) Lynn Batchelder ’13g, Jamie Bennett ’73g, Michael Gayk, and Myra Mimlitsch-Gray—will install their work in Bay 7, described as a “raw, unpolished site” within the Hotel Chelsea.

For more information and to RSVP to individual NYCJW events, visit www.nycjewelryweek.com.

Learn more about Metal at New Paltz via this link.