Nancy Worden

Nancy Lee Worden (born November 29, 1954) is an American artist and metalsmith. Her jewelry art is known for weaving together personal narratives with current politics. She has received many awards and honors. Worden has exhibited internationally, and her work is represented in collections around the world.[1] [2][3] These include New York's Museum of Arts and Design [4] and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.[5][6][7] Her work has also been selected for national juried competitions, including the Smithsonian Craft Show.[8]

Early life

Worden was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1954, and raised in Ellensburg, Washington. Her parents were both academics. The family lived near Worden’s grandparents, who lived on a small farm.[9] There Worden learned to use hand tools to express her creativity. While in high school, she studied art under Kay Crimp, and in her junior year took her first jewelry class. During her senior year she enrolled in undergraduate metalsmithing classes at Central Washington University.[10]

Education

After high school, Worden enrolled in a degree program at Central Washington, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1977.[1] There she studied with Ken Cory, who taught her jewelry fundamentals and encouraged her to develop her own personal artistic style.[11] In 1980 Worden enrolled in the University of Georgia to study jewelry and metalsmithing under Gary Nofke. He encouraged her to develop a unique creative voice that was expressed thorough technique and materials. Worden received her Master of Fine Arts later in 1980.[12]

Career

After graduate school, Worden worked in retail jewelry and art galleries. This provided her training in the business aspects of jewelry as an art.[13] During the 1980s, Worden organized shows for other artists, and refined her own style. In the 1990s, she developed a regional reputation.[14][15] By the late 1990s, she won national notoriety for her distinctive style that merged personal and political themes.[14][16][17] In 2014 the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum acquired her necklace "The Family Reunion 2012."[18]

Exhibitions

From June through September, 2009, the Tacoma Art Museum presented a major retrospective of Worden’s work, titled Loud Bones: The Jewelry of Nancy Worden. The exhibit featured 41 pieces from throughout Worden’s 30-year career. It was accompanied by a book of the same title. The show was then presented at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University from November 2009 to January 2010.[10]

Solo exhibitions

[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.cwu.edu/cwu-alumna%E2%80%99s-artwork-featured-museum-permanent-collections-throughout-world
  2. ↑ http://www.travergallery.com/gallery_artist_details/Nancy-Worden.aspx?&da=resume
  3. ↑ http://www.hatchfund.org/user/nancyworden
  4. ↑ http://collections.madmuseum.org/code/emuseum.asp?emu_action=media&id=1133&mediaid=12200
  5. ↑ http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/terminology-456401
  6. ↑ http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/lend-me-your-ears-457557
  7. ↑ http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/runnin-yo-mama-ragged-457556
  8. ↑ http://smithsoniancraftshow.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/program1-26.pdf
  9. ↑ Updike, Robin (Spring 2001). "Multigenerational Themes". Ornament 24 (4): 51.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 LeBaron, Michelle and Platt, Susan Noyes, Loud Bones: The Jewelry of Nancy Worden. Tacoma Art Museum, 2009.
  11. ↑ Kangas, Mattthew (Spring 2006). "Nancy Worden: Excavations". Metalsmith 26 (1): 26.
  12. ↑ http://www.azdesignercraftsmen.org/Default.aspx?pageId=301116
  13. ↑ Biskeborn, Susan (October–November 1998). "Nancy Worden: Getting Personal". American Craft 58 (5): 55.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/article/Jewelry-artists-are-flourishing-in-Seattle-1189794.php
  15. ↑ http://www.artfulhome.com/artist/Atelier-Nancy-Worden/8321
  16. ↑ [Anon] (November 2013). "Doer's Profile". Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist 67 (6): 80.
  17. ↑ Kangas, Matthew (July–August 1996). "The Rematerialzation of the Art Object". Sculpture 15 (6): 27.
  18. ↑ http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/2014/06/member-achievements-june-2014/
  19. ↑ http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/nancy-worden-137261/profile.html
  20. ↑ http://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Nancy-Worden/A01C351FD6062302