2024 - Andrea Li
Andrea Li is an independent jewelry designer since 2008 with 11+ years of experience using Pinterest. She has worked with several Pinterest internal teams to steer product development and their Customer Success team to launch the Pioneer Program inside the Pinterest Business Community as a founding member. She specializes in organic online marketing strategies specifically tailored to small product-based e-commerce businesses coaching dozens of students through Flourish and Thrive. She founded Red Pin Geek, a company that offers coaching, consulting, live training presentations, digital products, and account management to help other makers with their Pinterest marketing.
2023 - Michelle (Haumont) Moyer
Michelle (Haumont) Moyer is the owner of KP Studio in Phoenix, Arizona and the artist behind Michelle Haumont Jewelry. KP Studio offers beginning through advanced classes and studio space.
Michelle began her adventures in metalsmithing in 2011, started teaching in 2013 and eventually opened her own studio in 2016. She has taken classes all over including with Blaine Lewis at New Approach School for Jewelers in Arrington, Tennessee.
2022 - Adam Kenney
Adam Kenney is the Managing Director Programs at Bridgeway Capital, a Pittsburgh-based social impact investor driving equitable economic development in the region. He supports a talented team designing and delivering high impact business assistance programs to a wide variety of underserved entrepreneurs and to small businesses bringing economic growth to disinvested communities. Adam utilizes a comprehensive nonprofit administration and entrepneruial support skill set at Bridgeway. Before transitioning into the Managing Director of Programs role, Adam built the Creative Business Accelerator, Monmade, PG&H, and ORIGINS programs at Bridgeway. These programs support over 600 creative businesses across the region, and channel Bridgeway’s economic development capabilities into the regional creative economy. He began his career at Bridgeway as the Director of Communications where he crafted powerful content on the transformative power of capital and capacity building for small businesses.
His previous position was as the Executive Director of Touchstone Center for Crafts where he managed a wide range of activities including marketing, development, and program design. Adam also served as the Manager of Operations for the Arts Education Collaborative, an arts education advocacy organization under the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. In addition, he possesses 20 years of experience as a professional glassmaker in production and academic settings. Adam earned a BA in History from Centre College, and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Master of Art Management (MAM) degree. He also completed post-baccalaureate studies at the Appalachian Center of Craft in a variety of craft media and mixed media sculpture. He was featured as one of "25 Essential Pittsburghers" by Next Pittsburgh, and include as one of 13 "hardworking innovators" in the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Impact Report. He also serves on the board of directors for the Union Project and Protohaven, two vital arts and cultural assets in the Pittsburg area.
2021 - Robin Kramer
Robin Kramer, founder of Red Boot Consulting, is a brand marketing maven, natural business nurturer, master of relationships and a sales expert who has an impressive history with leaders in the retail industry that have built their brands on innovative merchandising and strong service cultures.
For more than 20 plus years, Robin has worked primarily with small, upscale brands and designers to bring their products to market, position these niche brands for maximum exposure to their target customers and build relationships with national and international retailers.
In addition to Red Boot Consulting, Robin co-founded Flourish & Thrive Academy, an online business educational platform for jewelry designers worldwide. She is a sought after speaker, moderator and panelist for various conferences, trade shows and podcasts. She has a passion for helping creatives go after their dreams. And for red boots! She divides her time between Sausalito, CA and Dallas, TX.
2020 - Sarah Rachel Brown
Sarah Rachel Brown is an adornment artist located in Philadelphia where she is a member of the JV Collective, a collaborative contemporary jewelry studio. Beyond the studio, Sarah is Art Jewelry Forum’s US Ambassador, the Custom Design Specialist for Bario Neal Jewelry and was the founding Metals Coordinator for the Pentaculum Residency at the Arrowmont School of Art and Crafts.
Most recently, Sarah is known for Perceived Value, a podcast launched in 2017, acclaimed for radical transparency and candid interviews discussing the financial and logistical aspects of artist’s careers.
Sarah has exhibited nationally and internationally, including The Contemporary Jewelry Show at the Penland Gallery (NC), Munich Jewellery Week (de), New York City Jewelry Week (NY).
Sarah has been an artist-in-residence at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, a Core Fellow at the Penland School of Crafts, and received her training through a 3-year apprenticeship with jeweler, Sarah Loertscher.
2019 - Liz Kantner
Liz Kantner is heavily involved in the jewelry world. She consults upcoming jewelry designers and curates trade shows. From content creation and social media planning to press outreach and industry networking Kantner is the marketing guru for new jewelry designers. Liz and her partner Chris own and operate a tattoo shop and gallery in West Asheville, North Carolina. Liz carries a small selection of independent jewelry designers.
2018 - Michael David Sturlin
Michael is a studio jewelry artist, goldsmith, writer, educator, and industry consultant. He took his first class at the Revere Academy in San Francisco in 1986, where he says “I learned more in 5 days of a professional workshop than I had in the previous five years unguided.” This led to the career altering realization that instruction and formal guidance are an essential part of mastering skills. He is now widely known for teaching the Marketing Designer Jewelry class from 2005 – 2015 and developing the curriculum for the Jewelry Biz Essentials program that was a popular capstone at the Revere Academy starting in 2015.
In addition to creating his own work in his studio, Michael now devotes much of his time each year to passing on the knowledge and skills he has gained to students of all levels – from beginning fundamentals to professional advancement. Michael is a respected mentor and business coach. He frequently holds classes at the Bead & Button Show in Wisconsin and teaches workshops at studios and other shows around the country and internationally. Each January-April, Michael offers his In-Depth Retreats.
2017 - Marthe Le Van
Marthe Le Van is a contemporary jewelry evangelist and owner of Mora, an award-winning retail jewelry boutique in Asheville, North Carolina representing 30 independent studio jewelers. An internationally recognized writer and editor, Le Van has more than 50 jewelry titles to her credit. She founded and was senior editor of Lark Jewelry Books from 2002 to 2012. Prior to this, Le Van was creative director at Blue Spiral 1 and curator for Harvey Littleton Studios. Marthe is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in arts administration and art history. Recent juror credits include Artisphere, the Niche Awards, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, and Craft Boston.
Read Marthe’s advice to jewelers on how to network to build relationships with galleries and proper etiquette for pitching your collection.
2016 - Cathleen McCarthy
Cathleen McCarthy is the founder and editor of TheJewelryLoupe, a blog for jewelry lovers. A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors with a B.A. in magazine journalism from the University of Maryland, she has published hundreds of articles in magazines, newspapers, websites and books. Cathleen is a regular contributor to Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine and teaches webinars on online marketing for designers in addition to working as a consultant and content strategist for jewelry-related websites.
Read Cathleen’s overview of the judging process and experience in her article An Inside Look