[Jewelry making - Article 00246] - Re: [Orchid] BFA/MFA Vs technical training

[jonmryan]

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    I have a BA in art, attended GIA for gemology and jewelry
    manufacturing, worked as a bench jeweler for a while and am now back
    in school for an MFA in metals. 

    GIA was much more useful than college. I am working on my MFA right
    now and I regret going back to school. Sure its fun to make what I
    want in college, but I think I will be no better off when I finish.
    (I am far enough along in the program that I will finish the degree
    rather than quit) 

    If you want to want to work as a bench jeweler, trade school is the
    way to go. It would depend on the college you went to, but from my
    experience what you do in a college metals program will help very
    little working as a jeweler. Most people I have met are working on
    getting an MFA because they want to teach metals. 

    IMO Only advantage of college is you get to work on your own
    designs. Disadvantages are that you have to take a lot of irrelevant
    classes (although more at the undergrad level than the grad level).
    Also I haven't met any college trained people that have any concept
    of how to do any stone settings other than a simple bezel set cab. 

Jon
www.jonmryan.com
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