SilverWorksV will take place at SAS Founder Jeff Herman’s live/work
loft in Providence. A brunch and full dinner will be included at
this event.
10:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. (actual hour-to-hour scheduling of the below
events is still being planned)
Munya Avigail Upin: Woven Metal Techniques
SAS Artisan, Munya Avigail Upin, will demonstrate textile techniques
which can be translated into metal. These techniques include
weaving, twining, knotless netting, chain “knitting” and braiding.
The processes demonstrated may be applied to jewelry, functional
objects or sculpture. Samples will be executed in copper, brass,
silver and aluminum, but techniques may be translated into gold, or
refractive metals as well.
Upin is an metalsmith and educator , living in the Boston area. Born
in Faribault, Minnesota, Upin received her BFA from Drake
University, a MA from San Diego State University and a MFA from
California State University, Fullerton. She was “artist in
residence” at the Oregon School of Arts and Crafts and has taught at
the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Southwest Texas State
University, San Marcos, Texas; Penland School of Crafts and the
Massachusetts College of Art, just to name a few. Upin is an
award-winning metalsmith who has exhibited nationally and
internationally for 29 years. Her exquisite metalwork is in private
and public collections throughout the United States and Europe.
Samuel J. Hough: Gorham Flatware of the Nineteenth Century
Gorham began making spoons from sheets of coin silver in 1831.
During the next seven decades the techniques, the designs and the
market grew with the Company. Hough will propose to talk about what
we know about early Gorham flatware and how we know it.
He began his interest in Gorham silver when hired to appraise the
gift of Gorham’s historical archives to Brown University in 1986.
About 1988 he noticed a box of file cards indexing the costing
records for making flatware. After transcribing these cards and some
of the records themselves, and then had indexed the files of
photographs, and had incorporated the entries in the U.S. Patent
Office, he thought he had a book. About fifteen years–and thousands
of pieces of Gorham flatware seen and handled --later, Hough had
some ideas and even more questions than ever.
Hough was educated at Kenyon College, studied at the University for
Foreigners, Perugia, The Middlebury Italian School, and have
advanced degrees from Columbia and Brown Universities. He was a
Fellow of the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, the
Villa i Tatti for two years, 1972 to 1974 researching private
libraries in fifteenth century Florence. He has worked a various
levels of librarianship–from Janitor in an Army Library to
Assistant Librarian of the John Carter Brown. Since 1981 I have been
a self-employed book-seller. He has published books entitled The
Italians and The Creation of America, The Beinecke Lesser Antilles
Collection at Hamilton College, A Catalogue of Books, Manuscripts,
Prints, Maps and Drawings, 1521-1860, and co-authored Magnificent,
Marvelous Martele for The New Orleans Museum of Art. Hough has
published bibliographical notes, articles on Marsilio Ficino, and
various subjects in Silver Magazine. Most recently, he has published
a set of eight CD-Rom of Gorham biennial catalogs 1880-1909. And he
has told people for fifteen years that I would publish a Guide to
Gorham Sterling Flatware of the Nineteenth Century.
Jeff Herman: Answering Questions on Silver Restoration
Hererman’s business has been under sole proprietorship since 1984
and has built a reputation of quality craftsmanship with a special
sensitivity towards the restoration and conservation of fine
metalware. He have repaired & reconstructed everything from
disposal-damaged flatware to historically important tankards, tea
services & tureens.
He considers himself an environmentalist, using the safest,
non-toxic, organic products on the market. The workshop is
state-of-the-art in safety and cleanliness.
Herman’s experience includes the restoration and fabrication of
silverware at Pilz Ltd. in Providence, Rhode Island, and as a
designer, sample maker, and technical illustrator at Gorham, Inc.,
also in Providence. He has a BFA degree in silversmithing and
jewelry making from the Maine College of Art in Portland.
Bring damaged pieces with you. He’ll help you perform your own
repairs! at his new live/work loft in Providence to assist in silver
repair and cleaning issues.
William Hicks: Photographing Reflective Objects Inexpensively
William Hicks has been photographing professionally for over ten
years. As one of the original co-founders of an award winning Boston
studio in 1997, he has, since 2001, gone on to open his own studio
in the heart of southern New England: Providence, RI.
After Art school in Boston in the early nineties, Hicks worked as a
freelance wedding photographer for a few years before setting up a
small studio in South Boston. He was the first photographer in over
One Hundred years to be commissioned to photograph the historic
renovation of the cupola dome at Faneuil Hall in Boston. He
photographed such other historic Boston Landmarks such as Boston’s
King’s chapel, and most recently the RI State House in Providence,
RI.
As of late, Hicks photographs a fairly diverse range of images
including weddings, corporate advertising, and editorial stock. My
other photographic endeavors take me around the country and the
world, shooting assignments for my many clients who need new imagery
for an ever-changing marketplace.
Laurie Ackerman: Silver Appraiser for Informal and Detailed Appraisals
Ackerman, who has a degree in jewelry & silversmithing from RISD,
studied with Jack Prip, Harold Schremmer, and Louis Mueller. She has
specialized in silver appraisal for 25 years, and exhibits silver at
shows in New York, Chicago, Miami, Boston, and Baltimore. Her areas
of expertise are American victorian flatware, especially unusual
servers, Georg Jensen, and fine holloware. Appraisals start at $25
and go up with complexity of identification.
6:45pm: Dinner & Presentation of the Forth
Hans Christensen Sterling Silversmith Award:
http://www.silversmithing.com/1hans.htm
Click this link for the registration form:
http://www.silversmithing.com/1silwork.htm
Jeffrey Herman, Founder & Executive Director
Society of American Silversmiths
PO Box 72839
Providence, RI 02907
Tel: 401/461-6840
Fax: 401/461-6841
E-mail: sas@silversmithing.com
Web: http://www.silversmithing.com