and beyond, the traditional way to
learn a craft was to apprentice to a
master craftsman. Today, you can
still fi nd traditional jewelry appren-
ticeships in Europe. Even as recently
as 40 or 50 years ago, you could
sometimes fi nd them here in the U.S.
But for the most part, U.S. jewelry
apprenticeships have gone the way
of the rotary phone.
Why? There are a number of
reasons jewelers give for not off er-
ing apprenticeships. None should
be surprising, but none, believes
Aalund, is insurmountable.
It’s an Investment
What are often called apprentice-
ships today can look radically diff er-
ent than they looked in the Middle
Ages. Unlike arrangements then, all
the apprenticeships mentioned here
are paid positions. Asking an ap-
prentice to work for free in exchange
for training is not only frowned on,
it’s illegal. But even without the
concern of wages, who has time to
nursemaid a budding jeweler for the
fi ve to seven years it takes to turn an
all-thumbs beginner into a compe-
tent journeyman? Who can wait all
that time before seeing a return on
that investment?
So some jewelers have developed
shorter-term situations. Seattle jew-
elry artist Micki Lippe’s apprentices,
who stay only a year or two, already
have excellent metalworking skills.
They just want to polish their busi-
ness skills. “I expect them to apply
to exhibitions and work on their pro-
duction line or one-of-a-kind piec-
es,” she says. One woman worked
for her for a year expressly to listen
to Lippe’s phone calls with galler-
ies, so she could learn to do the
same. Lippe says she’s been known
to “fi re” her apprentices if they are
not meeting the goals they’ve set. It
makes them realize they have to be
as serious about it as she is.
“I want to see my fi eld continue,
so I try to help younger people get
a foothold,” she says. In exchange
for advice, guidance, and an occa-
sional push, her apprentices work in
Lippe’s studio for as little as three or
as many as 20 hours a week helping
with her work.
Victoria Lansford, an Atlanta,
Georgia, jewelry artist who spe-
cializes in European repoussé and
fi ligree, also takes on apprentices,
but they must already be profi cient
in basic metalworking and hand
fabrication. Lansford sets them to
“do more of the menial tasks, like
chain links or clean-up,” she says. “In
exchange, I help them up their game
in the techniques I specialize in.” Her
apprenticeships usually last just fi ve
to six months.
One summer, Nanz Aalund placed
a high school student with a jewelryeducation
Nanz Aalund’s most recent apprentice works on casting in her studio.
PHOTO: COURTESY NANZ AALUND“If we want to
see the craft
continue and
be sustainable,
and we want the
information not
to get lost, it’s in
our best interest
to keep all the
ways we learn
alive, including
options for
apprentices.”
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 73