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[Portland] Job Seek

Jewelry Discussion
#1

My Name is Colin Kippen and I moved to Portland, Oregon about 3 weeks
ago and have been trying to find some work in the Jewelry industry
here but have found that the market doesn’t favor hiring right now.
I have set my sights on getting other work now but would really love
to do some jewelry or other metals-related projects on the side. I
wanted to ask if anybody on this forum knows the Portland area and if
you could point me in the right direction that would be great. I
haven’t found any places that sell bench time.

I just graduated from Carleton college and was accepted to Cranbrook
Academy of Art. I deferred admission because i wanted to take a break
from academics…and still work.

Thanks,
Colin Kippen

#2

Contact the Oregon college of Arts and Crafts, http://www.ocac.edu/
and talk to the teachers, take an evening course, offer to volunteer
etc. Join the metal arts guild there for connections. for trade
work, connect with the local jewelers, walk into stores, be polite
and tell them you are looking to an intro job. Try
http://phonebook.superpages.com/yellowpages/C-Jewelers/S-OR/T-/ and
so on. Offering to work for free for a week does not hurt as an in
to the industry…

best
charles

#3

Hi Colin;

In my humble opinion, I think you ought to reconsider that choice.
An MFA from Cranbrook in metals is a very prestigious degree.
There’s a lot of competition for those openings. I wouldn’t wait. I
finished undergrad and grad degrees in metals, and those where the
most enjoyable times in my life. I’ve spend nearly 30 years working
at the bench in the “trade”. It’ll always be there (I think . . .),
and it’s a long climb, unless you get lucky, to get to the point
where you can enjoy the work and be paid what you’re worth.
Sometimes you don’t get either of those things. I never did, so now
I’m independent. Apart from the discipline and practice you get
from working 40 hours a week doing this, I don’t have much to
recommend the retail jewelry trade. But if you’re determined to sit
at a bench, keep your eye out for a position working with a studio
goldsmith. You’re more likely to get to do challenging work, learn
from somebody who’s creative and more likely to share the rewards of
success. Best of luck in whatever you choose.

David L. Huffman

#4

In my humble opinion, I think you ought to reconsider that choice.
An MFA from Cranbrook in metals is a very prestigious degree.
There’s a lot of competition for those openings. I wouldn’t wait.

Colin, I agree with David. I got my MFA at Cranbrook and those were
two of the best years. Cranbrook is an incredible place, all the
more so since the completion of the new studios a few years ago. The
metal studio has to be one of the best equipped in the country.
Don’t wait, go now.

Joel

Joel Schwalb
@Joel_Schwalb
www.schwalbstudio.com

#5

Colin,

I’m in the Portland area and can suggest an excellent resource, The
Creative Metal Arts Guild (CMAG) http://www.cmaguild.org/about_cmag/
Most of the info. on the website is accurate, even if Bruce McKay
isn’t still the president. Ahem…But the folks there are great and
if there is any place for bench time, they will know. They also
throw an amazing Spring show with the Potter’s and Weaver’s guilds.

Gail Bumala, Sandy, Oregon, USA @Gail_Bumala