Lola Brooks is an artist, metalsmith, clotheshorse and sometimes writer who studied fashion at Pratt Institute but quickly found herself drawn to the metals studio and the possibilities that the intimate scale of jewelry presented. Deciding to pursue jewelry full-time she went on to earn her BFA in metals from SUNY New Paltz in upstate New York. Fascinated by jewelry as a cultural signifier, she is influenced by both historical jewels and material hierarchies that she believes are both imbued with meaning far beyond their mere physicality. Her inspiration is located somewhere between the seemingly oxymoronic Victorian obsession with death and sentimentality, and the optimistic creative vigor and largesse of 20th century costume jewels. She is driven by her never-ending search for the rich variety of strange and beautiful materials she collects, storytelling and her love of making things by hand. Living and working in New York City for 25 years provided infinite possibilities for a multi-faceted approach to exploring the format of jewelry as it relates to art, design and fashion.

She has taught at the University of Georgia where she served as the Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair 2012-13, Rhode Island School of Design, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and SUNY New Paltz, as well as 92nd Street Y in NYC, Haystack and Penland School of Crafts. The Recipient of the Sienna Gallery Emerging Artist Award in 2002, Lola's work has been reviewed and/or included in many publications including four of the Lark Books jewelry series; American Craft, Metalsmith, Out, W, Vogue, Lucky and BlackBook magazines. Her work can be found in the collections of the Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, the Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY, The Racine Museum of Art, Racine, Wisconsin, and both The Museum of Art and Design and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Jonathan Wahl joined 92nd Street Y in July 1999 as director of the jewelry and metalsmithing program in 92Y's School of the Arts. He is responsible for developing and overseeing a curriculum that has more than 55 classes weekly and 15 visiting artists yearly, hiring and supervising 25 faculty members, maintaining four state-of-the-art jewelry and metalsmithing studios, and promoting the department locally and nationally as a jewelry resource center. Wahl founded the only Jewelry residency in New York city for a Jeweler and oversees an active lecture program with notables from the Jewelry and Design worlds at 92Y. Biennially he organizes international trips to visit contemporary jewelers and historical collections across the globe.

Named one of the top-10 jewelers to watch by W Jewelry in 2006, Mr. Wahl is an accomplished artist who, from 1994 to 1995, served as artist-in-residence at Hochschule Der Kunst in Berlin, Germany. He has exhibited his work most recently in the exhibitions New York Silver Then and Now, Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY, Parallels, Jonathan Wahl & Sondra Sherman, Lamar Dodge Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, Sentimental Ornamentation, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Reverse: rewriting culture, Dot Fifty-One, Miami, FL, with Sienna Gallery, The Pulse Art Fairs in NYC and numerous other fairs, exhibitions, and venues.

He has been awarded the Louis Comfort Tiffany Emerging Artist Fellowship from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships one in Craft and one in Drawing in recognition of "Outstanding Artwork," and the Pennsylvania Society of Goldsmiths Award for "Outstanding Achievement." Part of the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and the American Craft Museum. His work has been featured or reviewed in publications as diverse as the New York Times, Art in America, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest, Oprah Magazine, W Jewelry, Art Jewelry Forum, Metalsmith magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and the Advocate among others. Work can also be seen in 1,000 Rings and 500 Enameled objects both by Lark books. His drawings are represented by Sienna Patti Gallery. His Jewelry can be found at De Vera in NYC and Eagan Day in Philadelphia.

Before joining 92Y, Mr. Wahl was, first, director of the jewelry and metalsmithing department at the YMCA's Craft Students League, and later assistant director of the League itself. Mr. Wahl holds a BFA in jewelry and metalsmithing from Temple University's Tyler School of Art and an MFA in metalsmithing and fine arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a member of the Society of North America Goldsmiths. A history fanatic and avid gardener, when he's not at 92Y motivating his students he can be found in his studio in Brooklyn or in his garden.