ROCKPORT — Rockport’s coastal arts scene will add a hands-on silversmithing destination this fall as local gallery owners expand their downtown business into an instructional space for jewelry makers.
Kimmi Norvell Moake and Danya De León, co-owners of Moon Over Water Gallery and Artisan Market, plan to open the silversmithing school in mid-October according to a press release announcing the initiative. Located at the gallery at 302 S. Austin St., Suite 4, the school will offer beginner and developing makers lessons in handmade jewelry techniques.
The release stated a grant from the Texas Woman’s University Center for Women Entrepreneurs will help fund workstations, silversmithing tools, equipment, materials and instructional resources.
“We started this journey as best friends and artists with a shared belief that art should be welcoming, personal and accessible,” De León said in the release. “Receiving this grant gives us the opportunity to create a space where people can learn a new skill, make something meaningful with their own hands and become part of Rockport’s creative community.”
Moake and De León are seeking experienced silversmiths and teaching artists to lead classes, workshops and creative gatherings.