Fred Fenster – Artwork Jewellery Discussion board

Fred Fenster ca. 2004, photographer unknown

Awards
Faculty of Fellows – American Craft Council
Lifetime Achievement Award – Society of North American Goldsmiths
Grasp Metalsmith – Metallic Museum
Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship – American Craft Council
Nationwide Endowment for the Arts Fellowships (1971 and 1977)
Underkofler Excellence in Instructing Award – College of Wisconsin—Madison
Distinguished Educators Award – James Renwick Alliance
Hans Christensen Sterling Silversmiths Award – Society of American Silversmiths
Award of Excellence – American Pewter Guild

Fred Fenster, Sabbath Candlesticks — Fred Fenster, *Sabbath Candlesticks,* ca. 1974, sterling silver, photographer unknown

A Window to the World
Spring 2009, a New York Occasions overview described “a stupendous little e-book about human excellence and the way in which it’s undervalued in modern America.” The e-book: Store Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew Crawford. A well-crafted textual content, it reminds us that the processes of expert work are usually not separate from the merchandise of our labor. The applying of talent and labor afford and demand self-reflection and demanding pondering. Twenty-seven years prior, fall 1982, in a store class on the UW–Madison, a professor informed his college students, “you’ll study extra about your self on this class than anything.” The category was Artwork Metallic. The professor was Fred Fenster. Maybe he was forward of his time.

Fred Fenster, Choker with Pendant — Fred Fenster, *Choker with Pendant,* 1972, sterling silver, 14-karat gold, moonstones, tourmaline, pearls, picture courtesy of Ruth Neubauer

Fred Fenster was born on December 9, 1934, within the Bronx, New York Metropolis, the place he was raised and went to public faculty. He attended Metropolis Faculty of New York, the place he found his curiosity in store class. He studied industrial arts and located his calling with supplies, ideas, how issues work, and what can be a lifelong ardour for problem-solving. His first job was within the New York Public Faculty system, the place he taught industrial arts for 2 and a half years. In 1958, he and his spouse moved to Pontiac, MI, and Fred attended Cranbrook Academy of Artwork, in Bloomfield Hills. At Cranbrook he earned the MFA in Metalsmithing, and made lasting friendships with Al Pine, Michael Jerry, Stanley Lechtzin, and others. In 1961, he was appointed to the school of the College of Wisconsin–Madison, the place he taught till his retirement as professor emeritus in 2005.

Fred Fenster demonstrating pewter fabrication ca. 2010, photographer unknown

Fred Fenster, Serving Set with Three Cups — Fred Fenster, *Serving Set with Three Cups.* Patterned and fabricated in pewter, the pitcher is assembled from two elements with a forged part that holds the wooden deal with. The three cups are fabricated. Tapered rims, certainly one of Fred’s signature particulars, present modest ornamentation to the pitcher and cups. Photographer unknown

Fred was an ideal instructor—beneficiant, caring, curious, and full of information. He taught with intent, demonstrating every concept, method, and course of as a car to show information, abilities, and, in the end, character. His thoughtfulness expressed a perception in holism in studio craft, artwork, and design, and it was nice. Fred was a professor, instructor, mentor, function mannequin, and expensive buddy to so many. He and fellow college in Artwork Metallic, Professor Eleanor Moty, epitomized the that means of the phrase “colleague,” they usually each cared deeply about their college students and their program.

Fred Fenster, Teapot — Fred Fenster, *Teapot,* 2002, patterned fabricated in pewter, photographer unknown

Fred was considerate, clear and concise, a craftsman of phrases and language, and he beloved phrase play. He loved puns, double-entendres, and the supplies and mechanisms of language as a lot as these of the studio. He typically shared his information of phrases and their origins, and pronounced French phrases and phrases with ease.

Fred Fenster, an early Star of David Kiddush Cup — Fred Fenster, an early *Star of David Kiddush Cup,* ca. 1975. As it’s used, the star contained in the cup is slowly revealed. Photographer unknown

Fred Fenster, Kiddush Cup — Fred Fenster, *Kiddush Cup,* 1986. “That is pewter, there’s a seam within the center,” Fred wrote about it. “It’s made out of two items. The star on the backside is made by reducing into the underside cone. There’s an organization that makes trumpets and trombones. I ordered a forged iron kind and turned it on the lathe in order that I had a base.” Photograph courtesy of Stanley Lechtzin

Fred was dedicated to work, significant work, in myriad methods, whether or not it was chopping wooden to warmth his home via the chilly winters in rural Solar Prairie, WI, or constructing the store, sustaining instruments and tools, redesigning amenities at college, or working in his studio on designs, objects, and experiments. He appreciated work, figuring out, lifting weights, and making use of himself to attain a desired end result. My professor might at all times do one chin-up greater than me, and that was inspiring. He was very robust, each bodily and mentally, intelligent, and a scholar of physics.

Fred Fenster and Matthew Hollern doing pull-ups at Haystack Mountain Faculty of Crafts, 1984, picture courtesy of Matthew Hollern

Fred was a curious mental with life-long pursuits in tradition, humanity, and wonder. He typically acknowledged stunning issues, and he inspired stunning work, “aesthetics” within the full sense, each finding out and appreciating what may be stunning. In critiques, he addressed craftsmanship as a sign of greater than talent. He believed that aesthetic values and visible language rely upon craftsmanship, not merely as deftness, however relatively as a direct expression of integrity, dedication, information, capacity, and creativity. By slide lectures, demos, and critiques, we got here to grasp craftsmanship extra absolutely, see its necessary function in shaping notion, and acknowledge it as a supply of energy in artwork, design, and craft.

A choker by Fred Fenster. Fred made sterling silver “basket twist” chokers many occasions. They had been easy but structurally ornamental. It was fabricated from six wires, soldered collectively, twisted whereas straight, then bent over his knee. A request was as soon as made for a second basket, on the within getting in the other way. Fred made that design, and the piece was proven on the UW—Madison, Class of 1926 Gallery. The piece was purchased earlier than the present opened. Fred thought it was too difficult and most well-liked the open twist, as a purer design. He by no means made one other one of many double-twist design. Photographer unknown

Fred had a life-long curiosity in instruments, utensils, machines, and supplies. On the flea market, he appreciated to acknowledge the genius of outdated issues, and to ask concerning the ones that weren’t acquainted. His store and studio had been residence to historic implements and newfangled devices, stunning instruments from the previous, and a few of his personal making. He appreciated to enhance upon issues, make them more practical, ergonomic, or sturdy. He appreciated fixing issues: dismantling, cleansing, reconditioning, and reassembling. He constructed his studio at residence for work, and the studio at UW–Madison to show, every off which mirrored and supported the values of labor and craftsmanship.

Fred Fenster, Choker, 1986, solid sterling silver, picture courtesy of Ruth Neubauer

Fred made significant work: objects of decoration, objects of the desk, objects of ceremony and ritual. His pursuits and influences spanned the historical past of artwork, with explicit consideration to the Arts and Crafts, Artwork Nouveau, and mid-century trendy/Scandinavian Fashionable durations. In his personal phrases, in an announcement from the UW–Madison college present in 1986:

I benefit from the means of taking a formless materials and shaping it into an object that’s distinctive and particular. The work itself is an exploration of concept, course of, materials, and, in the end, self. The item made is a document of the expertise. For me, the method is the necessary half.

Fred Fenster, Sterling Silver Kiddush Cup — Fred Fenster, *Sterling Silver Kiddush Cup.* “The highest of the cup is folded in, then a bit is added, then a rim is placed on,” Fred wrote. Photographer unknown

For these of us who loved the views from this window, Fred Fenster will probably be dearly missed, however his place in our hearts and minds will probably be with us at all times.

Caption info gathered with help from Eleanor Moty.

Fred Fenster ca. 1978, photographer unknown

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