Northwest Jewelry & Metals Symposium — Archive, 1994–2026

Seattle Metals Guild

Northwest Jewelry & Metals Symposium
Archive

Since 1994 the Symposium has brought together artists, designers, makers, curators, writers, and anyone interested in metal as a medium. What follows is the roster of presenters, year by year, drawn from the Guild's own records.

Covers 1994 through 2026, drawn from the Guild's Symposium records; the 2026 Symposium (32) is upcoming. Where available, a name links to the speaker's website and a video link opens a related recording on the Guild's YouTube channel.

Listed newest to oldest — scroll down to trace the Symposium all the way back to its start in 1994.

View the full Symposium playlist on YouTube

2026 – 2021

2026Symposium 32Broadway Performance Hall, Seattle — upcoming (October 10)
Register for the 2026 Northwest Jewelry & Metals SymposiumSymposium 32 — October 10, 2026, Broadway Performance Hall, Seattle.
  • Maria CristalliWashington blacksmith; forged iron and sculpture
  • Ana María JiménezColombian jeweler, artist, and architect; ancestral techniques and stone tools
  • Jaydan Mooremetalsmith and printmaker; sculpture from found silver-plated tableware
  • Demitra Thomloudisstudio jeweler and educator; jewelry, the body, and place
  • Jennifer YoungerTlingit metal-carving artist; Northwest Coast formline jewelry
2025Symposium 31

The 2025 full recording is available with chapter links above. Watch full 2025 recording

2024Symposium 30

The 2024 Symposium marked the Guild’s first hybrid event, held in person and streamed live online with a hosted Q&A.

2023Symposium 29
  • Dana CassaraSeattle jeweler; founder of Danaca Design
  • Beatriz Cortezsculpture; welded steel, memory and migration
  • Ben Doryartist and metalsmith; granulation, etching, and sculptural jewelry
  • Aaron Macsainarrative goldwork and mokume
  • Michael Nashefjeweler, educator, toolmaker, and mixed-material metals artist
2022Symposium 28
  • Brittany Nicole Coxantiquarian horologist; automata and mechanical objects
  • Jim Dailingjewelry designer and metalsmithing/stone-setting instructor
  • Catherine GrisezSeattle metalsmith, sculptor, and jeweler
  • Amie McNeelsculpture and metalwork; educator
  • Cynthia Toopspolymer-clay mosaic and beadwork
2021Symposium 27
  • Karin Jonesinterdisciplinary artist with a jewelry background; identity and social history
  • Matt Lambertnonbinary multidisciplinary artist; adornment, body, and queer theory
  • Junko Moriforged steel and silver organic sculptural forms
  • Ira Shermanmechanical and kinetic jewelry and interactive sculpture
  • Cindi Strausscurator, decorative arts and craft (MFA Houston)

2020 – 2016

2020Symposium 26Online — the first fully virtual Symposium
Spotlight presenters Funlola Coker, Desmond Lewis, and Gabriel Mo — short video features introduced with the move online.

As the pandemic unfolded, the Symposium moved from the bricks-and-mortar of Broadway Performance Hall to the cloud, which also opened the conversation to kindred souls across the planet.

2019Symposium 25
2018Symposium 24
Panel — Ideation: From the Belly to the Brain Moderated by Aran Galligan, with Melissa Cameron, Gina Pankowski, and Sarah Hood, on how each maker enters the creative process through a different door.
2017Symposium 23
In memoriam Ron Ho, Seattle jeweler known for Asian-influenced narrative jewelry, remembered by the Northwest metals community.
2016Symposium 22

2015 – 2011

2015Symposium 21
2014Symposium 20Washington State History Museum, Tacoma — alongside Protective Ornament at Tacoma Art Museum
In memoriam Rock Hushka — remembering Seymour Rabinovitch.
2013Symposium 19

When a last-minute cancellation arose, planning-committee member Micki Lippe stepped in to present Ursula Neuman's talk in her absence.

2012Symposium 18Broadway Performance Hall, Capitol Hill — the Symposium's home for many years
Panel — Job it Out: Outsourcing Watch panel Lynne Hull, Greg Kruger, James Magetteri, and Peter Rowe — a metal spinner, a water-jet cutter, a commercial caster, and a trade-shop jeweler and goldsmith.
2011Symposium 17

Seattle again welcomed SNAG that year, but the Guild decided to move ahead with its own Symposium.

2010 – 2006

2010Symposium 16
In memoriam Elizabeth Shypertt with Maria Phillips — remembering Marcia MacDonald; and Andy Cooperman — remembering Heikki Seppä.
2009Symposium 15
In addition Lynne Hull presents A Brief History of the Seattle Metals Guild

While the Symposium centers on metal, it often invites artists working in other media and craft-adjacent fields.

2008Symposium 14

Speakers may invite someone to introduce their talk; here Susie Ganch introduced her former professor, Fred Fenster.

2007Symposium 13
Related workshop recordingDavid Freda — David Freda Workshop workshop recording associated with the 2007 Symposium year
2006Symposium 12Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) — home for many years

2005 – 2001

2005Symposium 11Seattle Art Museum
  • Dee Fontansjeweler, metalsmith, performance artist, and wearable-art maker
  • Lee Rumsey Hagajewelry artist and educator; patination and alloys
  • Ela Lamblinkinetic sound sculpture (Lelavision)
  • Richard Mawdsleyintricately fabricated metalwork
  • Michael Monroecurator (Renwick Gallery; Bellevue Arts Museum)

A single Symposium was held at SAM before the search for a new venue continued.

2004Symposium 10

The Symposium often invites speakers from outside art, craft, and design — here, a neurologist on how the hand shapes the brain, language, and human culture.

2003Symposium 9
2002Symposium 8

The early Symposiums were multi-day events that included exhibitions and workshops presented by speakers.

2001Symposium 7

2000 – 1996

2000Symposium 6
1999Symposium 5

Symposium speakers have long included gallerists, historians, writers, and curators alongside makers.

1998No Symposium

With Seattle hosting the 1998 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) annual conference, the Guild chose to skip that year's Symposium.

1997Symposium 4Blended with the International Jewelry Workshop, Highline Community College
  • Russell ColonInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Stair DikermanInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Dr. Peter FankbonerInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • David and Nathalie Gackenbachtrade-jewelry workshop presenters
  • Michael GreenwoodInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Lynn HenryInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • David Horstelapidary techniques for jewelers
  • Greg IversonInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Rodney KesslerInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Gina PankowskiSeattle metalsmith; intricate openwork
  • Julie RauschenbergerInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Don RotherhamInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Cynthia SchlemleinInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Cynthia Toopspolymer-clay mosaic and beadwork
  • Carmen ValdesInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Florence Baker WoodInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter
  • Norm YoungInternational Jewelry Workshop presenter

Held just south of Seattle at Highline Community College, whose program focused on the world of the trade jeweler.

1996Symposium 3

The early years had no set number of speakers; over time the program settled on roughly five slots.

1995 – 1994

1995Symposium 2

For a contemporary account of the second Symposium, read Sharon Boardway’s Second Annual Jewelry Metals Symposium, originally published in Metalsmith and republished by Ganoksin.

1994Symposium 1UW Art Building basement, Seattle (~60 seats)

The inaugural Symposium paired local talent with nationally known figures, including makers and non-makers alike.

Compiled from the Seattle Metals Guild's Symposium records, 1994–2026. For more about the Symposium, visit symposium.seattlemetalsguild.org.

If you are a speaker and would like your talk removed, updated, or linked differently, contact us.