Open Call for So Fresh + So Clean 2023. Ethical Metalsmiths Online Student Exhibition

A Letter from 2023 EM Students Jury:
EM Students invite you to respond to this year’s So Fresh + So Clean design challenge! What do you hope will be the life cycle of your work? How does that impact the materials you choose? In what ways do your studio habits support your need for sustainability?

Our work has a social and environmental impact. Together we face a world that is increasingly unpredictable. As artists, we have the opportunity to respond to these environmental and social concerns. Have you considered how long your work will last? Is it passed on from generation to generation? Is it ephemeral? Is it biodegradable? Can it be disassembled and the materials reused? How do you envision your piece reentering the material supply chain? Will it re-enter the supply chain at all? With these questions EM Students are asking you to consider materials, sources, processes, and design within your studio practices. Intention is critical to the outcomes of an artist’s work and the choices you make will ultimately determine the life cycle of your work.

This is an opportunity for creative empowerment. We are eager to showcase the ingenuity and innovation of the EM Students community and inspire future students.

As artists it is our imperative to lead the way in forging a sustainable future. We can do this by participating in cultural production in ways that innovate how we use materials and consider their life cycles. It is our hope that such considerations are being made in your evolving commitment with sustainable metalsmithing practices. Addressing the future of our work and its “life cycle” is as much a part of the design process as the wearability of a jewelry object or the origin story of the materials we chose to make with. We look forward to viewing all of the inspired applications this spring!
/ Yifei Kong, Shannon Kurzyniec, Chelsea Rowe. EM Students, VCU Chapter.

A Note to Educators:
We hope that educators will consider adopting this Call for Entry in your courses this semester. To assist you with this we will be providing a collection of curriculum tools to the Call for Entry page on the EM website including:

1. Lecture by Emily Stoehrer, unpacking this year’s call for entry theme.
2. Technical handouts
3. Assignment prompts
4. Additional Resources

There is also the opportunity to purchase a Student Membership Package for you and your students. This will include 5 Student Memberships.

Student Membership Packages available for $150.00

About EM Students:
Ethical Metalsmith Students (EM Students) is examining what it means to be an artist in the 21st century by curating an ONLINE student exhibition showcasing the most innovative jewelry and metalsmithing work made by students who acknowledge the need for responsibility in the field.
 
We understand a 100% sustainable practice is an unachievable goal. But, how close can we get? The first step is becoming aware of the ways your work impacts environmental and human health, hopefully affecting the creative decision-making of artists.  Becoming a member of Ethical Metalsmiths is one small step that places you within this essential dialogue, and your membership fee helps our non-profit organization to continue to make a difference!


Key dates:
Call for Entry deadline: 15th May.
Notification of acceptance: 1st July.
Exhibition Launch: 1st September.
Emerging Artist Page launch: 1st October.

>> Click here for the Entry Call

Awards:

• $1,000 Ethical Metalsmiths Emerging Artist Award, The Emerging Artist will also receive an exposé on the EM Students website.
• $500 Guest Juror’s Choice Award.
• $250 EM Student’s Choice Award.

Application Requirements and Guidelines:

- Information required on Application Form:

1. Student status and school affiliation
2. Artist Statement: (200 words maximum)
3. Explain the inspiration or concept behind your work. 
4. Responsibility Statement: (200 words maximum) What do you hope will be the life cycle of your work? How has the life cycle of your submitted work for this year’s design challenge been considered? Describe the thoughtful design choices you have made from an environmental impact perspective. What studio habits support the environmental and social challenges we face?
5. Image details

- Image Requirements:

• This is an ONLINE exhibition, so professional-quality images are essential.
• Image size must be: 1200 pixels (width), 72 resolution, .jpeg format
• You may submit a maximum of 5 artworks, with 1 full, and 1 detail images per artwork.
• You may include up to 3 images of in-progress or studio shots that highlight your efforts in creating a responsible practice.
• Images must be labeled in the following way: Firstname_Lastname_title.jpg
  Firstname_Lastname_title_detail.jpg
  Firstname_Lastname_studio1.jpg

Membership eligibility:

Applicants must be a current student level member of Ethical Metalsmiths by the Call for Entry deadline.

You are eligible for EM Student membership if you have enrolled in a Jewelry or Metalsmithing related course at a high school, college, craft school, or workshop during the current year of student membership, OR  if it has been less than 2 years since you graduated from a degree granting program. 

*For the 2023 exhibition, students must have graduated no earlier than June 2021.

>> Click here to sign up and become an EM Student Member


About the Jurors:

Jina Seo
Jina Seo (b. South Korea) is Assistant Professor in Metal + Jewelry at Missouri State University. Her practice explores the relationships between body, clothing, sexuality, fetish, and space. She received her MFA in Metal at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her BFA in Metalwork and Jewelry Design at Kookmin University, Seoul. 

Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Munich Jewellery Week 2017; Brooklyn Metal Works, Brooklyn, NY; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL; Sung-Gock Gallery, Seoul, Korea; and (AV17) Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania. She recently participated in an exhibition “Colorful Minds: Contemporary Enamel and Jewelry” in South Korea in 2022. 


Dr. Emily Stoehrer
As the Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Emily is an international presence in the jewelry field. At the MFA she oversees a collection that spans 6,000 years and includes more than 22,000 objects—highlights include ancient jewelry, a growing collection of nineteenth and twentieth-century high-style jewelry, and the Daphne Farago Collection of contemporary jewelry. At the MFA, Emily curated Past is Present: Revival Jewelry, co-curated Boston Made: Arts & Crafts Jewelry and Metalwork and Hollywood Glamour: Fashion & Jewelry from the Silver Screen. Emily is a frequent lecturer and has been invited to present at museums, conferences, and organizations around the globe. The diversity of Emily’s interests in the field are evidenced in her publications and lecture topics, which range from nineteenth century jewelry to works by contemporary makers and designers.

In addition to her work as a curator, Emily has spent more than a decade as an adjunct professor at Boston-area colleges and for four years managed three robust undergraduate programs in fashion design and merchandising. Most recently, Emily developed a History of Jewelry course for the Art History Department at Massachusetts College of Arts & Design (MassArt). 

A leader in the field, Emily served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Society of North American Goldsmiths from 2017 until 2020, and is currently the spokesperson of the jewelry vetting committee of all three of The European Fine Art Fairs (TEFAF).
Emily’s academic work has focused on the history of material culture and the philosophy of identity. She is particularly interested in the evolution of taste and her dissertation focused on the influence of the Hollywood red carpet. Emily holds a PhD in Humanities from Salve Regina University, Master of Arts in Fashion & Textile Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.


Chelsea Rowe
Chelsea Rowe (she/her) is an artist and jeweler originally from the Midwest. Currently based in Richmond, Virginia,  she is a first year Craft/Material Studies Graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University. Rowe completed her BFA in 2018 at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She is a member of Ethical Metalsmiths. Participation includes Radical Jewelry Makeover: Artist Project and EM Student VCU Chapter Co-Chair.
 

Shannon Kurzyniec
Shannon Kurzyniec (b.1984) is a candidate in the MFA program in the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,VA. She received her BFA from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, concentrating in Metalsmithing. Utilizing body adornment, installation, and video, Kurzyniec explores new ways in which to express her opinions about the personal and social impacts of prescription medication on the human condition. 


Yifei Kong
Yifei Kong is originally from Beijing, China. She is a metalsmith and enamelist. She received her BFA in Metal from SUNY New Paltz, NY. Currently a first year in the Craft/Material Studies MFA program in Virginia Commonwealth University. 

You can find more information about the members of the VCU Chapter, the team responsible for the SO FRESH + SO CLEAN exhibition each year on their profile page.