A few memories from before the Covid 19 Pandemic
HAPPENINGS IN 2019
Midwest Metalsmiths Art Show
Great Success on October 11 & 12, 2019
Congregational Church Webster Groves
What a great success! This was a new venue for our annual art show. We have only heard good reviews. Visitor/shoppers liked our new venue and the artists are happy with the change. We are looking forward to a repeat performance in 2020. Thanks to all the members that made the show a success! More than anything, thank you to all of the wonderful St. Louis people that came out and attended the show. Thank You!
July 2019 Midwest Metalsmiths Gathering
Day Enterprises (stone dealer) sets up for sales
and member problem solving session.
Rich and Debbie Day visited St. Louis and put out their vast array of precious stones, semi-precious stones, rough cut stones, and books for all MM members to do some serious shopping. It got real quiet as members admired, planned, and imagined new works around the seven tables that were weighed down with stones. Web Stie: www.redayent.com
When the shopping was finished the members settled in around a circle of tables and discussed metalsmithing problems they may be having, new resources they had to share, and metalsmithing tricks.
Leigh Roberts and Kathy Craddock have been helping a jewelry artist friend, who recently passed away, clear out a studio and brought several boxes of tools and equipment to sell at bargain prices. Some members at the meeting went home with some real bargains!
June 2019 Midwest Metalsmiths "Studio Booth"
Webster Arts Fair
This was Midwest Metalsmiths opportunity to:
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meet, greet, introduce and share information about our organization to the Webster Arts community.
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demonstrate various metalsmithing skills and techniques.
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support our members displaying at the Webster Arts Fair and
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announce dates and times of our annual Midwest Metalsmiths Art Show to the Webster Arts Fairgoers.
May 2019 Event, Meet & Greet
Urban Chestnut
On May 4, 2019, members of Midwest Metalsmiths meet to socialize, eat, drink, and share our latest metal projects around a long table at Urban Chestnut. The Urban Chestnut is one of the many quality brew houses in St. Louis. It was a great time of sharing and conversation. Thanks to Leigh Roberts, our President, for organizing a great social event.
March 29 to May 12, 2019, Hidden Treasures
Craft Alliance
Craft Alliance Center of Art and Design and Midwest Metalsmiths joined forces and put on a gallery show at the Craft Alliance Delmar location. The exhibition featured unique characteristics of handmade metalwork. For centuries metalsmiths have incorporated hidden treasures or messages into their work, lending their piece subtle and unique nuances often completely invisible to the human eye. The practice of leaving buried messages continues to this day, and while some secrets remained buried by time; other treasures are waiting to be discovered.
Thanks to Stefanie Kirkland's (curator) efforts, the gallery show was a great success with eleven Midwest Metalsmith artists being juried into the show by juror Don Friedlich. The display was well thought out and showed the artwork to its best advantage. The show was well attended, the opening was packed, every seat at Don Friedlich's talk was filled, and the gallery and artists enjoyed good sales.
January 2019 Event, Ruth Asawa Docent Tour
Pulitzer Museum
Website: Ruth Asawa
On January 19, 2019, a sizeable group of Midwest Metalsmiths members gathered for a docent tour of the inspiring "Ruth Asawa's Life Work" at the Pulitzer Museum in the Grand Arts District of St. Louis. The exhibit brought together eighty works by the artist spanning her lifetime.
A wide selection of wire and tubing sizes is a must in a busy metalsmithing studio.
Soldering is an essential skill set for a metalsmith.
An enamel artist slides pieces into a kiln to be fired. The metal has glass powder sifted onto it and the firing is from 1400 to 1500 degrees.