Reflections on the SNAG 2024 Conference in San Diego

As the SNAG 2024 Conference at San Diego State University (SDSU) in San Diego, CA draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on a great four days. If you weren't able to attend, here's what you missed.

About SNAG

For those that don't know, the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) is an education-based jewelry organization. SNAG started in 1969, when a group of jewelry artists and metalsmiths got together to fill what they saw as a void in the profession - a place for jewelers and metalsmiths to come together, support each other, and share information. 

Since then, SNAG has grown to approximately 2000 members from all over the world. Every year or two SNAG hosts a conference in different locations throughout North America. SNAG conferences are a mixture of community building social events, presentations on a wide variety of topics, technical demonstrations, portfolio reviews, a vendor room, exhibitions, studio tours, a trunk show and more.  This was SNAG's 51st conference.

SNAG returns to its roots

Over lunchtime burgers at a SDSU student restaurant, I spoke to Brienne Rosner, SNAG's Executive Director about why San Diego, CA was chosen for this year's conference location. Rosner told me that the SNAG Conference is in different locations every year and that it hadn't been on the West Coast for a long time. San Diego came up as a possibility because of its beautiful location, its dynamic jewelry/metals community and its unique cultural significance being on the US/Mexico border.

Rosner said that SNAG had a team in San Diego already with Kerianne Quick being the Co-President of SNAG, a professor at SDSU and Conference Committee Chair. SNAG Conferences are historically hosted in hotels, but Rosner pointed out that there has been a desire in recent years to go back to the early days of SNAG and to host the conference on a college campus again. This means that at this year's conference attendees have been able to stay in SDSU dorm rooms instead of hotel rooms, which has added in lots of unplanned fun! All the factors fit together to host the conference at San Diego State.

Rosner said that as a North American Jewelry/Metalsmithing organization being inclusive of its Canadian and Mexican members is important to SNAG. While they would love to host a conference in Mexico City, the logistics of crossing the border for U.S. vendors was complicated. Hosting the conference in San Diego which is situated right on the US/Mexican border seemed like a good compromise and that much of the programming reflected this location.

Notable presentations at SNAG 2024

One of the programming choices focusing on US/Mexican border issues was Ronald Rael, the conference keynote speaker. Rael's work crosses the line between architecture, sculpture and performance art. His presentation showed thought-provoking work that ranged from 3/D printed clay buildings to site specific sculptural interactions with the US/Mexico border fence. Much of his work is interactive and experiential. Rael showed how the hybrid culture of the borderlands between the US and Mexico inspires art on both sides of the border. 

Another exciting presentation was by members of Colectiva Tilde, a group of four Spanish speaking jewelry artists from Latin America to the Caribbean who joined together to explore commonality and mutual support during the pandemic. Of the collective SNAG writes on its website: "Colectiva Tilde was formed virtually in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. We are currently four Spanish-speaking artists from Latin America and the Caribbean, who use contemporary jewelry as our means of expression: Alejandra Salinas Pérez, Cassandra Adame, Maru López, and Sandra Salaices. The collective was born to investigate the roots of our Latin American culture as viewed from the lived experiences of each of us. We seek to create a space to inspire, reflect, and ignite conversations through the jewelry we make. Contemporary jewelry is the language we use to share stories from the varied experiences and perspectives of our bicultural realities. From this vantage point, we strive to build connections and opportunities for Latin American and Latinx jewelers in both the United States and Latin America." Colectiva Tilde's presentation was an excellent example of how the concept of building community is constantly evolving and that something born during the drama of the Covid pandemic can endure and be relevant post-pandemic.  

There were other cross border presentations, including Ana María Jiménez from Columbia, who shared her research on pre-Hispanic metalsmithing techniques. Jiménez not only gave a presentation about her research, but she also did a live demonstration of pre-Hispanic metalsmithing techniques showing forging a silver ingot cast in an ancient ceramic crucible design and a charcoal fire using rocks both as the hammer and anvil. 

Georgina Treviño is another artist presenter with border roots.  Treviño is a dynamic contemporary jewelry artist and sculptor who gave a high energy presentation about her work and career. She also opened her San Diego artist studio during the conference's gallery tour.  Treviño is from Tijuana, Mexico, but is now based in San Diego, CA. Georgina Treviño got a degree in Applied Design with an emphasis in Jewelry/Metals from San Diego State University. Her work reflects a distinctive personal aesthetic along with cultural and social observations. Treviño has created work for celebrities such as Beyoncé, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and been highlighted in numerous publications and exhibitions. 

Other presentations covered a wide variety of topics, including sustainability, ethical uses of precious materials, technical topics, numerous breakout special topic discussions including a BIPOC & 2SLGBTQIA+ panel discussion and many artist presentations sharing their work and career narratives. A highlight of these was Mary Lee Hu getting SNAG's lifetime achievement award, which is SNAG's highest honor. Mary Lee Hu is most known for her work utilizing textile techniques in metal, but having an opportunity to witness her entire career during her presentation was inspiring and transformative. Mary Lee Hu has been a member of SNAG from its earliest days and has been a pivotal contributor to the history of the organization.

Collaborative exhibitions

At every conference, SNAG co-sponsors and collaborates with exhibitions throughout the host city. Two of my favorite exhibitions this year were the I-5 Jewelry and Metalsmithing Artists in the SDSU Love Library and the Adorned Spaces Exhibition in the SDSU conference hall. 

The I-5 exhibition is a collection of 30 California jewelry/metals artists who shaped metalsmithing history. As a person who grew up in California, it was an evocative experience to see the work of so many artists who influenced and motivated me in my career. Artists like David LaPlantz, Marcia Lewis, Arline Fisch, Lynda Watson, Helen Shirk and many more exhibited works that showed why they are icons in our field.  

The Adorned Spaces Exhibition is a collection of mini pop-up exhibitions by curators, organizations, schools and individuals. At the San Diego SNAG conference, I especially appreciated the student exhibitions in the Adorned Spaces area. Students from all over the globe shared their work. One of these exhibitions came from the University CENTRO graduate program in Mexico City. Lorena Lazard, who is head of the graduate jewelry program at University CENTRO, brought four recent graduates to experience the SNAG conference and to share their work in the Adorned Spaces Exhibition. 

SNAG portfolio reviews

The SNAG conference portfolio reviews are an important and unique component of SNAG conferences. Emerging artists and students can have their work reviewed by established jewelry artists. I spoke to Curtis Hidemasa Arima, one of this year's portfolio reviewers regarding his thoughts of the SNAG Portfolio Review Program. Curtis answered back via email. Curtis is a Professor and Jewelry/Metals Program Head at California College of the Arts in the SF Bay Area.

"The SNAG portfolio reviews at the San Diego Conferences are a rare opportunity for students and emerging professionals to engage directly with an educator, metalsmithing, and/or jewelry field expert. Feedback about technique, craftsmanship, and artistic professionalism can be discussed in candid ways that are specific to the reviewers. This gives them actionable advice they can use to move forward with their artistic and career goals. 

As a reviewer, I found it extremely rewarding to connect with these emerging artists and share my thoughts around how to build success. I was able to cater the conversations to the individual. I helped an artist with pricing and beginning to understand the market and branding, another with how to move forward with their conceptual ideas for graduate studies and helped another grapple with their multidisciplinary artistic identity that included metals. 

The process was a positive exchange of ideas. It allowed me to directly hear the concerns of very diverse emerging individuals and stay connected with new, ever changing, and never changing issues in our fields. It was joyful and connected me with people I would not have encountered easily without the formal connection that the SNAG Portfolio reviews created."

I spoke to one of those students, Maria José Núñez, about her work and what she hoped to accomplish at this year's SNAG Conference. Núñez, said that one of her goals at Conference was to get a better idea of what contemporary jewelry means and where her place in it is. Núñez said that she especially appreciated her individual portfolio review session with Seattle jewelry artist, Andy Cooperman, who gave her helpful technical suggestions and inspirational career advice. 

Social events at SNAG

One of my favorite parts of each conference are the social events. These are times to connect with old friends, make new ones, to network and to solve all the great issues of jewelry making and life. The conference starts off with a reception called the Pin Swap. Members make a pile of custom pins to trade and share. Of course, food and drink are involved. There also is a member's trunk show which serves as a closing activity for the conference. This year the trunk show was in an SDSU outdoor courtyard. It was a fantastic perk to be outside and to feel the warm San Diego sunshine amidst a vast array of amazing handmade jewelry.

One aspect of the conference that is incredibly fun and rewarding but isn't an official part of the schedule are the spontaneous dinners, lunches, coffees, drinks and parties that happen all throughout the 4 days. This year there was a restaurant and bar by the SDSU dorm where we all stayed. I went to the outdoor patio of the bar every day to meet friends both old and new. At night we circled the bar's outdoor fire pit and had conversations that went to closing time. On the final night of the conference, some attendees arranged a party in the SDSU dorm's outdoor patio. It was like we were in college again, only older, but not necessarily feeling any wiser. It was so much fun! While four days isn't excessively long, the more often that you attend the conferences, the more folks that you get to know. Over time these folks become close friends and a professional support structure. 

One of my big regrets was that I didn't go on the post-conference gallery tour in Tijuana. On Sunday after the conference multiple folks took a guided bus trip to Mexico. From all reports it was extremely fun and rewarding. 

SNAG 2025 and beyond

While the 2026 in-person SNAG conference hasn't been announced yet, Brienne Rosner said that next year they're holding their third iteration of Tides & Waves, a virtual symposium series that explores the deep and continual flow of international ideas in contemporary jewelry & metalsmithing in different geographical region. The 2-day participatory Virtual Symposium filled with speakers, demonstrations, breakout discussions, practical tips, hanging out and more. Keep your eyes on SNAG's website for future updates.

If you've never attended a SNAG Conference, or if it's been a while since your last one, I highly recommend that you consider it. SNAG Conferences are an excellent way to get career feedback, see exciting jewelry and metalwork, learn about what's happening in our field, learn techniques and have a chance to hold and purchase the latest tools, books and gemstones. Perhaps most important of all, attending a SNAG Conference will inspire you to get back to work in your studio with a fresh, reinvigorated perspective.