No Art Without Design: The Studio Jewelry of Art Smith

Abstract

Arthur George Smith (1917-1982) or Art Smith was a significant mid-twentieth-century American studio jeweler. He was critically received, had gallery representation, and participated in important jewelry, art, craft, and design exhibitions in the United States and Canada. His jewelry is well represented in American private and museum collections and frequently discussed in scholarly texts. This thesis finds that not only have the influence of industrial design techniques been overlooked in surveys of Smith’s methods of making, but more critically, his contributions to Black and queer art have gone unrecognized. Smith used techniques, adapted to a volume model to outstrip the production capacity of his contemporaries, and sell more work priced for less, thereby democratizing access to well-designed jewelry. Also noteworthy is Smith’s approach to integrating messages of allyship in his jewelry and advertisements to telegraph the inclusivity of his work to Black and gay communities. This thesis argues that these insights from Smith’s life and work propose a reassessment of his accomplishments and support arguments for reconsiderations of the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ makers to American arts, crafts, and design.