Covid Support Grant

Follow up interview reveals more to the artist’s story

In March of 2020, artists the world over, including me, watched our income streams run dry as the global Covid-19 pandemic took hold. Regional Arts Council of St. Louis (RAC), our community’s largest arts funder, in partnership with St. Louis Community Foundation, rallied quickly to establish a pool of $100K to distribute in the form of grants to impacted artists.

My income is derived substantially from my art making activities, so I applied for the grant. Just days later I was informed that I had been awarded one. The check arrived before the week was out.

We in St. Louis are so fortunate to have a vibrant art community that is recognized for its contribution to our local economy, in addition to our culture. When Jay Scherder, Communications Senior Manager at RAC, followed up with me recently to ask about the impact of the grant, I was happy to share my story.

What’s home base?

My home base is Kirkwood, Missouri. I live in a house with my two boys and a dog.

Tell me a little bit about your craft.

I make jewelry and other wearable objects. I work in silver, gold and sometimes bronze. People know my work for the hand-crocheted surfaces I apply onto shapes I make at the torch. My jewelry is predominantly metal, but I add diamonds, pearls, or colored stones when it suits the design.

I consider myself variously a jewelry designer, jewelry artist, or jeweler. The nomenclature varies depending on whether I’m doing work that I plan to introduce to my Collections, groups of work designed around a theme or design motif I intend to reproduce for a market; one-of-a-kind pieces that might be more experimental in material or form; or jobs where I assemble pieces from sourced parts.