During the fall semester, the Jewelry & Metalsmithing program hosted “Jewelry Speaks: The Voice of the Jill Wine-Banks Pin Collection,” an exhibition centered on the elaborate pin collection of distinguished attorney, former Watergate prosecutor, and MSNBC Legal Analyst Jill Wine-Banks.
For nearly six weeks, this exhibition and archiving project featured works from Wine-Banks’ personal collection that she accumulated over a lifetime of work in the American political and legal landscape. In the weeks following the showcase, students and alums shared their reflections on what they took away from the exhibition.
Wine-Banks’ collection
Whether or not students were familiar with Wine-Banks’ multi-disciplinary work before “Jewelry Speaks,” many walked away from the exhibition with an appreciation of her collection.
“It was really fascinating to see her huge collection,” said senior Pavonis Giron. “She’s got vintage, highly collectible pieces… What is most meaningful for her is the meaning of these pieces. She’s really focused on what a piece says.”
Giron felt that Wine-Banks’ collection was distinctive in being primarily concerned with each piece as a symbol, often separating its meaning from its jewelry context.
Wine-Banks’ wide ranging collection is full of symbolic-pins that were worn on-air by Wine-Banks herself. These symbolic pins became a staple aspect of her on-air presentation.
Student and alum work
Having been involved in other exhibitions in the past, Giron noted “Jewelry Speaks” as a “unique group show,” given that it was primarily centered around the multitude of works Wine-Banks displayed. This deep and complex interaction with another individual’s work was gratifying for Giron, who felt it reinforced innovation in art.
“It allows you to feel a bit more comfortable in playing with unusual materials to see something that’s cherished,” said Giron. “It provides a renewed sense of creative freedom to use materials that are not archival and to be encouraged to play around with color and texture.”
A cross-functional exhibition, “Jewelry Speaks” also featured several student works, including one from Giron.
“It was kind of my opportunity to make something that was fun and had meaning,” said Giron.
Giron’s piece was a broach made from a forged piece of non-polished silver with curves around it, which resulted in something they described as more offbeat.
Recent alums also got involved with “Jewelry Speaks,” including Lilly Luft and Gideon Herman who collaborated long-distance to create a book arts project.
“While at Peck, Gideon went through really intense fabrication work which came into play on this piece,” said Luft. “The piece is a solid silver object… we brought it up to 1400 degrees sixty times without remelting anything.”
When creating the piece, Luft described being encouraged to work with a variety of materials thanks to her PSOA education.
“Jewelry as a practice as taught at Peck is very cross-disciplinary,” said Luft. “It encourages dipping in and out of fine metalwork to get to know other materials.”
Luft and Herman were contacted directly by exhibition organizer and curator Erica Meier (Teaching Faculty II, Jewelry & Metalsmithing, Digital Fabrication & Design), whom they have stayed in touch with post-graduation. Luft said that the continued support from PSOA faculty as a recent graduate is “pretty incredible.”
“The program is pretty tight-knit,” said Luft. “The ability to keep in touch with someone… Knowing that the mentors I had in school are still available to give mentorship but are also just colleagues now. It makes a big difference.”
Meier worked alongside Special Collections director Max Yela to put this event together.
Current students’ first exhibition
In addition to the alums and upperclassmen who got to show work for “Jewelry Speaks,” several students who were enrolled in Introduction to Jewelry and Metalsmithing got to showcase their semester projects.
Despite not initially expecting to get involved, Sophomore Marlena Weghorn displayed her penny badge in the exhibition.
“It is really exciting to know I can actually present my work,” said Weghorn. “It was really great to see my work integrated with so many other student and professional pieces.”
Weghorn’s piece represented feminine sin as shown in various religious literature which fit perfectly into a portion of Wine-Banks’ collection.
“I knew I wanted to do something focused on femineity,” said Weghorn. “In the exhibition, there is a section of snakes and dragons. It just so happened that my piece fit perfectly in that category.”
Sophomore Sophie Rickert displayed her piece from the fall semester’s intro class, which was a penny badge with a silhouette of a woman enclosed.
One of Rickert’s main takeaways from the exhibition was learning more about Wine-Banks’ collection through Meier, who maintains a positive relationship with Wine-Banks.
“It was interesting to hear Erica’s relationship and how that developed with [Banks] knowing that Erica is who we’re directly associated with,” said Rickert. “We got to know her pin collection in-depth through Erica.”
Jill Wine-Banks attended the event’s opening reception in October, giving a public talk for students and attendees.
Story by Jason McCullum ’25