Metalsmithing Alumna Rebekah Frank Featured in Klimt02, SNAG Metalsmith Magazine
Artworks by Rebekah Frank. From left: Untitled, Shell Necklace, 2011. Found steel, steel. Photo by the artist; Hinged Containers, 2022. Steel. Photo: Cami Leski.
Cranbrook Academy of Art is proud to celebrate alumna Rebekah Frank (MFA Metalsmithing 2012), who is the subject of a wide-ranging career interview published by Klimt02.net and in expanded form on SNAG Metalsmith, as part of Metalsmith Magazine Vol. 46 No. 1. Conducted by jeweler and writer Olivia Shih, the interview traces Frank’s extraordinary path from welding student and traveling blacksmith to studio artist, nonprofit leader, and craft philanthropist.
Frank’s route to becoming an artist was anything but linear. Beginning with a welding class at a California community college at age eighteen, she went on to earn an associate’s degree in mathematics, train as a blacksmith across Texas, Germany, Israel, and Spain, and work as a scientific instrument maker at the University of Texas Applied Research Laboratory, all before returning to school for her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Texas State University and then her Master of Fine Arts at Cranbrook. She describes her time at the Academy as pivotal to her development, working in the Cranbrook library, assisting at the Cranbrook Art Museum during a major collection move, and serving as departmental assistant to Head of Metalsmithing and Artist-in-Residence, Iris Eichenberg.
After graduating, Frank became a respected figure in the art jewelry world, eventually serving as Executive Director of Art Jewelry Forum (AJF). She has written extensively for AJF, Metalsmith Magazine, and Surface Design Journal, and her work has been acquired by the Cranbrook Art Museum, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and CODA Museum in the Netherlands. Her steel jewelry and sculptural objects have been represented by Ornamentum Gallery and exhibited internationally.
Frank currently serves as a Program Officer at the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, where she focuses on grant-making strategy for the craft field, while protecting time for her studio practice. The interviews offer candid, practical insight into relationship-building, sustaining a creative practice across decades, landing residencies and solo shows, and what it truly means to make a living as an artist.
The full extended interview is available through SNAG Metalsmith.
Learn more:
Ask Me Anything: An Interview with Rebekah Frank — Klimt02.net
Behind the Scenes: Rebekah Frank — SNAG Metalsmith
Metalsmith Magazine Vol. 46 No. 1
Rebekah Frank — Artist Website
Award-Winning Alumni and Artists-in-Residence — Cranbrook Academy of Art
