2024 Board Members
CoMA is run by a volunteer board. We are all metalsmiths of varying stripes and believe that connecting artists is the key to building and maintaining our vibrant metal arts community in Colorado. Board members are elected at the Annual All Members meeting for two year terms even if they are appointed when positions become vacant before our Annual Meeting. If you are interested in joining the board or volunteering in another capacity (we can always use help!), contact our President, Kim Harrell, at president@coloradometalsmiths.org.
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For 2024, the board will meet from 12:30 - 2 PM on the third Sunday of the month in February, March, April, May, June, September, October, and November. Traditionally, we hold a board retreat in January, and an annual members' meeting during our conference in July. Please note that dates and times are subject to change at short notice, but we will communicate such changes to our CoMA members.
Kim Harrell
she/her
President
Kim Harrell is a silversmith and jewelry artist who makes distinctly textured and clean-lined jewelry and silverware using precious metals occasionally combined with unconventional materials such as felt, rubber and steel. She studied at the London Metropolitan University, Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design where she obtained a B.A. in Silversmithing, Jewellery and Allied Crafts. Kim is a Denver native and currently resides in Aurora, CO where she runs a private design studio, and teaches at The Art Students League of Denver. Her work can be found at Forsythe Fine Jewelry in Buena Vista; Mountain Home in Evergreen, and Aurum Jewelry in Denver. Kim's work is in several private collections in the USA and Europe. The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, now under the Denver Art Museum, in Denver, acquired a set of her sculptural spoons for their permanent collection.
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Kim has 18 years of board experience and is a graduate of the Colorado Business Committee's Leadership Art training program, and of Leadership Aurora. She was appointed by two successive Governors to serve on the Colorado Creative Industries Commission and has sat on numerous public art selection committees for the city of Aurora and the State of Colorado. Kim was a co-founder of what is now known as the Aurora Cultural Arts District and continues to be an active member in the Denver-metro area arts community as an educator, board member, donor, collector, and art business woman.
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"I volunteer with CoMA because I love being part of a group of 'metalheads'! It is such an important aspect of sustaining connection with colleagues, learning new things, sharing our knowledge and giving a hand up to the next generation."
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Kathy Joleaud
Vice-President
Professionally, I am responsible for program support and grants administration for the Colorado River Initiative at the Walton Family Foundation. In that role, I help grantees write and complete their applications for funding, put all the proper documents in the system, and then submit. Once submitted, I assist the Foundation’s program officers in preparing the written and financial analyses required to prepare the application for internal review and approval. Many other aspects of the work take place after approval – tracking grantee budgets and reporting and preparing for grant renewals when the time comes.
Prior to joining the foundation, I served for eight years as the executive assistant to the President/Co-Founder of Magnetar Capital, LLC in Evanston, Illinois. I also worked as the executive assistant to the Group President/Owner of Kohler Interiors Group in Chicago for four years; and prior to that role, I was executive assistant to the Vice President of Hazelden-Chicago for two years. Over the years, I have served as event planner for many executive meetings, staff retreats, and site visits with board members both locally and in other geographic locations. I have done this in each of my professional roles, as well as in a volunteer capacity as an eight-year member of the Women’s Club of Evanston (IL).
My interest in the Colorado Metalsmithing Association has evolved as my friendship with Kim Harrell has grown over the past six years. I am a long-time hobbyist in jewelry design and fabrication, have taken many classes and workshops both in Chicago (prior to my move to Colorado) and with Kim at Art Students League of Denver. I am very fortunate to have a studio in the same space as Kim. Last year was my first COMA conference, and I was blown away by the talent of all the attendees, the quality and reputations of the instructors and presenters, and the comradery of the organization. I would love to help COMA find a path forward; not just through grant opportunities, but by growing the membership and finding new revenue streams; creating relationships where we need to (i.e., with jewelry schools and their students as well other makers throughout Colorado); and exploding like a 10-year overnight sensation. I have great respect for the quality of the work produced by COMA members, and I really want to help this organization be the asset to all the members that it has the potential to be.
Rynn Miller
Treasurer
I’m a metalsmith working in silver, gold, and luscious stones. I love the process – give me fire and red-hot metal any day. I also have to keep making jewelry to support my stone-buying obsession.
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I love contributing to COMA because I have received so much from them it is time to give back!
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Lori Baer
Education Chair
Hello! My name is Lori Baer. I am a retired Cartographer from the USGS/Mapping Division at the Denver Federal Center. I have been a member of CoMA since its first conference, and I have a passion for the knowledge of how things are made! I started making jewelry and beading with my older sister when I was quite young, and it is still my ‘go to’ hobby, among playing mandolin, quilting, gardening, and mosaicking. I was Co-Chair of CoMA in 2011-12, and I served on the board three years prior. I enjoy the jewelry community, artists, and ‘makers’, and I would be happy to participate on the board again as Education Coordinator. I'm open to all ideas and suggestions as to what we can do to ‘spark’ CoMA's mission in our state and communities. Truly, the networking aspect of this organization is exceptional, and communication is key, so I would love to create and support events that encourage students and others to participate in this incredibly special nonprofit organization!
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Lori Baer
303-881-6126
Stephanie Dimmer
Exhibitions Chair
I love using different materials in my work to help file through thoughts and arrive at the final concept. I am trained in blacksmithing, metalsmithing, hot glass, and ceramics. I am currently engaged in combining those disciplines into sculptural canvases and forms. Following the completion of my undergraduate degree, I worked as a blacksmith for Geoffrey Newton Metalworks and then as a bench jeweler for Todd Reed in Boulder. I completed my MFA in Metals at Cranbrook Academy of Art and then I moved into a hot glass residency in North Carolina. I grew up in Denver but I now live in Strasburg which is about thirty minutes to the East where a small piece of land affords me a home studio and a micro farm.
I have been a CoMA member off and on since undergrad and I think the Conference draws a spectacular lineup of metalsmiths from around the country. I am volunteering on the CoMA Board because a few years ago I was just moving back to Colorado and I started getting invitations to join different shows through CoMA and it really helped me feel connected to the art scene here again. I hope that as Exhibitions Chair I am able to seek out new opportunities and keep that exciting momentum going within CoMA and for us as members.
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Helene Arendt
she/her
Secretary
Helene is the Artisan behind CSBmetalsmith – The Mountain Metalsmith. Her first mentor, her Opa, a master cabinetmaker from Austria instilled in her to always be inspired by nature and to value precision. Growing up in his Werkstätte, she learned early in life the importance of being meticulous and to always strive to create unique pieces of high quality. She understands the significance of having pride in putting her Mark on her pieces, just as Opa did on his.
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Despite working full time in IT, she devotes the remainder of her time to continuing to hone her craft in her own Werkstätte. She is a board member of several nonprofit organizations, however she values her role as Secretary of CoMA most, because she feels strongly about giving back to this community that has inspired her over the years. She enjoys interacting closely with her colleagues which enhances her creative world.
Helene first achieved Roycroft Artisan status in June of 2020, an honor she is proud to have maintained. To remain a Roycroft Artisan in good standing she must continue to follow the rigorous standards of: excellent hand craftsmanship, outstanding design, ongoing artistic development, uniqueness of expression and professional acknowledgement. Doing so allows her to continue to use the Roycroft Mark on her pieces. She maintains this status by applying each year to be juried by Master Roycroft Artisans and is striving to become a Master Roycroft Artisan herself, which requires at least 5 years of Roycroft Artisan status.
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Helene began her self-directed metalsmithing career in 2006 and has participated in classes and studio sessions with Harry Burdette, Travis Ogden, Bill Fretz, Micheal Good, Allison Antelman, Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez and Melissa Muir.
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She exhibits her current work at The Kaleidoscope Gallery in Nederland Colorado, The Schoolhouse Gallery in East Aurora NY and The Roycroft Copper Shop Gallery in East Aurora NY.
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Kristin Smith
Board Support - Administrative Assistant
Kristin holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from MSU-Denver with a focus in drawing and ceramics. She has called Northwest Aurora home for the last 40 years, where she is the full-time Program Manager of the Open Studio and Interns & Volunteers programs at DAVA (Downtown Aurora Visual Arts).
Her past professional experience in human resources, administrative, gallery coordination, operations management, and having her own studio practice makes her uniquely qualified to support the CoMA board.
She has been with CoMA since September 2021.
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Ethan Schultz
he/him
Communications Chair
Ethan is primarily a lapidary artist who makes jewelry out of stone, but love working in metal where he can! He has a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from MSU-Denver with a focus in jewelry and metalsmithing, and has been our President's, Kim Harrell, studio assistant since 2018. Ethan has been the with CoMA since September 2019. He loves creating new connections and working with other artists to build and strengthen our community.
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