BIG MONEY: Jewelry majors spend big bucks on silver, copper, brass for projects

By Alison Angel

angela@mytjnow.com

Katielynn Gadow, a jewelry/metals major, works on a project. Materials for jewelry majors can cost up to $500 a semester. Photo by Stephanie Eaton • eatons@mytjnow.comBeing a college student requires making sacrifices. But being a jewelry/metals design major involves sacrifice from your wallet.  

Ashley Herron, senior jewelry design major, said while she has never figured out the exact amount of money she spends per semester on materials, she estimates it to be between $400 and $500.  

Herron has work appearing in the upcoming “Reminisce: An Exhibition of Nostalgic Narratives” exhibit in the Lewandowski Gallery.

She is one of three Winthrop students whose art was accepted into this exhibition. 

The competition features metal and jewelry work from college students on a national level. Most of the chosen entries come from the U.S.,  and one piece is by a student from New Zealand. 

Each jewelry or metal piece takes hours to complete. 

The materials used can range from copper, plastic, brass or silver, which can sometimes be an expensive material to work with. Currently, sterling silver, which is used most, sells for roughly $30 an ounce.

Herron said materials can get expensive, especially if you choose to work with silver, which many of her recent pieces call for.

“Throughout my college career, the cost of silver has skyrocketed,” Herron said.  “I strayed away from it as an underclassmen because of its cost at the time, but I wish I had invested my money then. Each piece that does involve silver, I have to carefully plan for. If I mess up a piece, I’ve essentially wasted $100 or more.”

She uses alternative materials, such as recycled materials, plastic and wood, in order to avoid using silver.  

Kaylyth Harris, senior jewelry design major, is helping plan the exhibit with her jewelry class.  

Katielynn Gadow, jewelry/metals major, works on a metal piece. Jewelry/metal design majors not only put hours, but also of money into pieces. Photo by Stephanie Eaton • eatons@mytjnowHarris said while being a jewelry/metals major can be expensive at times depending on the materials you choose to use in your pieces, other ways exist for majors to still attain their vision.

“Sometimes you don’t want to lose your vision for a project just because material costs are high,” Harris said.  “A lot of times, I look at what I have and can reuse before I buy more materials and change my designs based on what I may have lying around my bench.”

Harris doesn’t have work appearing in this exhibition, but she said helping plan the event has been incredibly beneficial. 

“Having this opportunity has given us an experience that will help us succeed in the art industry,” Harris said.  “Having the knowledge behind what it takes to create and put together an exhibition is vital information as artist. It will definitely be an experience that I will look back on and be glad that it was a part of my curriculum.”

Jewelry/metals students started planning the exhibit in fall 2010. They took charge of the whole event, from picking the show’s theme, the categories and documenting the entries.

“We had to basically figure out how to create and assemble an exhibition ourselves with help from our professor, Courtney Starrett,” Harris said. “She wanted to give us the opportunity to learn how to execute every small detail it takes to put together an exhibition, and it has been a huge learning curve for me as well as my classmates.” 

Starrett, the professor in charge of the project, said the exhibit features 30 different pieces, which the class will install in the Lewandowski Gallery.  

Starrett said students planned everything from picking the juror, artist Bob Ebendorf, to collecting entries.

“They’ve had to learn everything about organizing an exhibition. It’s been very much their project,” Starrett said.  “Now, submitting their work to an exhibition, they’ll have a little bit of understanding of what’s going on on the other side.”

The exhibition will be displayed in the Lewandowski Galleries in McBride Hall from March 7 to 25.