Six Years Smitten
July 26 - October 12, 2019
Opening Reception: Friday, July 26, 5-7 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, July 27, 2-3 pm
Marissa Saneholtz and Sara Brown, co-founders of the Smitten Forum residency project unite over 70 makers who have participated in Smitten Forum in the past six years for a cumulative exhibition of wearable artworks.
Santa Fe, NM—“It started with a community of makers who wanted to create in a radical new way,” says Marissa Saneholtz, one of the co-founders of the Smitten Forum. Every year since 2014, Marissa Saneholtz and Sara Brown have invited a new group of jewelers and metalsmiths to work side-by-side in a communal studio for a week. Over six years, the forum expanded in numbers and geographic area to encompass over 70 artists in several states.
Call it a mobile artist colony, a colorful social experiment, or a crafty piece of performance art. Invitees range from emerging to well-established jewelers who employ a stunning array of mediums and techniques—including casting, computer aided design, found object assemblage, powder coating, tin construction, traditional silversmithing, and welding.
The Smitten Forum offered an opportunity for makers to work side-by-side for a week, removed from every-day distractions and limitations. The creative energy that ensues inspires participants to experiment with new materials, concepts, and styles—and makers often end up creating collaborative works.
Six Years Smitten brings this dynamic range of artists back together, with over 70 artists participating in a cumulative exhibition of wearable artworks. This will be the first long-term exhibition of Smitten participants, and will also reunite several members of this remarkable community.
Together, Saneholtz and Brown have collaborated with form & concept to create The Bench, an inaugural symposium symposium featuring lectures, demonstrations, and workshops by prominent names in the field of jewelry and metalsmithing, which begins the same weekend.
Six Years Smitten and The Bench will coincide with the Belt Buckle Expo, which showcases belt buckles made with a diverse array of materials.
Confirmed Artists for Six Years Smitten Exhibition:
Michael Dale Bernard, Nisa Blackmon, Sara Brown, Jim Charles, Kat Cole, Bob Ebendorf, Christopher A. Hentz, Mi-Sook Hur, Nicole Jacquard, Andrew Kuebeck, Zachery Lechtenberg, Barbara McFadyen, Barbara Minor, Mary Hallam Pearse, Marissa Saneholtz, Marlene True, Laura Wood, Autumn Brown, Liz Clark, Ben Dory, Shingo Furukawa, Arthur Hash, Anya Kivarkis, Galatea Kontos, Tim Lazure, Tara Locklear, Kathryn Osgood, April Wood, Ken Bova, Motoko Furuhashi, Deb Karash, Sharon Massey, Masako Onodera, Kerianne Quick, Jane Ritchie, Demitra Thomloudis, Ellen Wieske, Martha Banyas, Andy Cooperman, Nicole DesChamps-Benke, Maria Eife, Jeff Georgantes, Julia Heineccius, Yevgeniya Kaganovich, Heidi Lowe, Beverly Penn, Rachel Shimpock, Katja Toporski, Leia Zumbro, Melissa Cameron, Cappy Counard, Tanya Crane, Rebekah Frank, Don Friedlich, Laritza Garcia, Leslie LePere, Hannah Oatman, Sarah Perkins, Bryan Petersen, Anika Smulovitz, Kristin Beeler, Marilyn da Silva, Jack da Silva, Abigail Heuss, Tova Lund, Dawn Nakanishi, Heather Nuber, Kris Patzlaff, Jan Smith, Kristina Smith, Rachelle Thiewes, Myung Urso
