Jewelry Classes Offer a Unique Path to Earn Art Credits

When looking to fill their art credits, students will see that Alta has a lot to offer. There are drawing classes, painting classes, woodshop, clay, and even art history classes. However, jewelry is one of the more unique classes that involves different skill sets and techniques from any other art classes.

Jewelry making involves intricate metal work, torching, and polishing. Students in the Jewelry 1 class learn the basics of these skills, and in Jewelry 2 they take it a few steps further and create more advanced pieces.

Ms. Forreste Colson teaches both Jewelry 1 and 2 and this is the first year she has taught this class. She loves teaching Jewelry 1 because “everyone starts together,” she added, “In other classes, people have been drawing or painting for a while, but in this class it’s a level playing field.”

Jewelry classes can also teach patience. Because most people haven’t had experience making jewelry before, the skills being learned in these classes are entirely new. Ms. Colson commented on the difficulty of learning these new skills, saying that students must “be ready to work hard and work through frustrations and disappointments… new skills are going to take practice.”

Students in the class are exposed to some dangerous things such as soldering, filing metal, torching, and certain chemical baths, but there aren’t many injuries and safety procedures and equipment are provided.

When asked about how dangerous the class could be, student Melody Hanks said, “It was scary at first, but I’ve done these things so many times now that I’m not afraid.” They continued, “We have goggles and tweezers, and are always cautioned to put our hair up. Injuries don’t happen very often as long as people are following the safety procedures.”

Students take jewelry classes often because they wanted to express their creativity through jewelry and creating things that they can wear.

Melody was excited to “put [their] creativity into a more physical form.” “I love expressing myself through jewelry,” they said.

Another student, Curtis Haymore had heard that “Jewelry class was fun, so I decided to try it out.” He continued, “I usually give things I make as presents to family or friends.”

As he got further into the program, he realized how “fun [it is] to design jewelry and make it. We also get to choose what we make most of the time.”

The jewelry classes teach students special skills that aren’t available anywhere else and allow students to express themselves through a medium that is not very common.