Get to Know Sarah Holden, Metalsmith and Jeweler

Sarah’s Background

Hi! I’m Sarah. I am a contemporary studio jeweler and sculptor.

I received my Master of Fine Arts with a focus in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Crafts Materials Studies and Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University.

My limited production jewelry and sculpture can be found in galleries across America. I live in Chicago where I work as a studio artist, metals instructor and mom.

Teaching, recognition, and awards:

Visiting artist at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Metals Instructor at The Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina
Work found in the permanent collections of the Mint Museum in North Carolina and the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin
Honored with an Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Grant and a Society of North American Goldsmiths Professional Educational Endowment
Currently teaching steel fabrication, welding and metal forming at The Chicago Industrial Arts and Design Center in Chicago, Illinois

RESUME

Artist Statement

My work investigates how female identity is constructed and performed through the body.

The female body is site and content for my work and yields series in sculpture, drawing and limited-production jewelry. I source and celebrate imagery and histories of women that rebel against cultural expectation of the submissive female. Working inside this contested space I use traditional and non-traditional craft techniques to challenge these expectations by creating a role reversal through material.

About the Company

Holden Metalsmithing Company is my jewelry fabrication and sculpture business. My goal is to create bold, statement jewelry for bold wearers.

I pride myself of making quality, well-made jewelry that is unlike anything else. I want people to stop you on the street to ask you where you got what you are wearing.

My team:

I’m the designer and lead fabricator of the jewelry and objects made here. However, it is my goal to support other women and femmes in the process of my business running. My work is about strong women and I aim to work with and support strong women on my team.

I employ female identifying assistants to assist in the production jewelry and my artwork. I believe it’s important to hire promising junior metalsmiths in order to share the knowledge of technical skill, gallery representation and the successes and failures that I have experienced in the 15 years that I have been making jewelry. I often learn a lot from the younger generation too. This is how our institutional knowledge remains and grows in the future.

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Sarah’s Story

I grew up in the Virginia-Maryland-Washington, DC, area. My parents are absolutely makers! (Although they would only ever consider their craft as a hobby). I learned how to frame a house and hang drywall from my Dad, and how to sew, crochet, knit and quilt from my Mom.

I knew that I wanted to make art, go to art school and was determined to learn how artists can both make art and support themselves. I was the first in my family to go to college and I took it very seriously.

At VCU, I first learned how to fabricate small non-ferrous objects and jewelry in copper, brass and silver, then received a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship to study fabricating in gold.

At this time, I was also welding larger steel sculptures and had started wearing and performing my work. I am fascinated by metal and how each metal can be so different.

After graduating with my BFA, I moved to Milwaukee, WI, and began my graduate program at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I learned so much about how to set up a studio and spent most of my time making sculpture and performance art. I taught my first intro to metalsmithing classes, and learned a lot about the history of feminism.

After my graduate program, my husband and I moved to Chicago. Fifteen years later, I’m still living in Chicago, and I have learned so much about making jewelry, the jewelry industry, connecting with customers, working with galleries and building connections with my community.

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