Idar-Oberstein Germany is about 1.5 hours south-west of Frankfurt, and is the city where the historic Jakob Bengel Factory, now “Industrial Monument” is located.
I heard about an artist residency that took place in the factory a number of years ago, and it sort of lodged itself in the back of my brain as an amazing experience and opportunity to have. Jewellers workshops are often filled with new and old tools, the older ones are often “better” and have the patina of history and labor. I had the same feeling working at various costume jewelry companies in the years I lived in Providence, RI. Jewelry is a tactile indicator of the taste, loves, societal norms and small innovations of a culture, sort of a tiny archive.
I got in touch with Ute Eitzenhöfer three years ago, to express interest in this artist in residence program. Ute is a professor at the nearby Hochschule Trier, Department of Gemstone and Jewellery Design which organizes the residency program. The parameters and deadlines were a bit elusive, but we kept up our conversation over the years, and I will be spending June and July, 2018 in residence.
Rebecca in Bengel 