About the art
 

Born and raised on the Pacific coast into a family of mathematicians, artist Kelly Morgen turned to creativity and imagination at an early age. Living a childhood of artistic practice, by sixteen she had won a national competition that hung her painting in the United States Capitol Building.

Graduating high school with numerous awards in arts and language, she attended the prestigious Williams College in Massachusetts. Here she intensified her studies in art, taking a year abroad in Florence, Italy where she apprenticed with a master goldsmith on the famous Ponte Vecchio. She returned to graduate Magna Cum Laude and continue her studies in metal arts with a Cherokee medicine man and silversmith in rural Montana. This unique training has made her work a distinct blend of the contemporary and the traditional: jewelry that honors the sacred art of storytelling.

In 2015, Morgen revitalized her work with an intense 4-month metalsmithing program in London, where she also became licensed as an official Alphonse Mucha jeweler.  Approved by the Mucha family to continue the work of the famous father of Art Nouveau, Morgen's work travelled around the world, following the Quest for Beauty: Alphonse Mucha museum exhibit from the Russell-Cotes Museum in England to il Vittoriano in Rome.

Morgen's work has appeared in numerous publications, including Enchanted Living and Ornament Magazine, and is held in the private collections of John Mucha (Alphonse Mucha's grandson), actress Whoopi Goldberg, actress Teri Polo, and author Peter S. Beagle. She has received dozen of awards in juried exhibitions for her jewelry and was nominated for the Saul Bell Design Award in 2018.  In a world of mass production, Morgen still crafts each piece completely by hand.  Each tiny cameo holds a story within, exploring myths from around the world and empowering women to the magnificence they hold within.

Education/Professional Experience
Kelly Morgen Jewelry, founder, San Rafael, California — 2005 to present
Contemporary jewelry design, master gold and silversmithing
Merry Lee Rae, Santa Cruz, California — 2017
Studies in enamel and cloisonné
Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, London, England — 2015
Apprentice to master silversmith and engraver
Heyoka Merrifield, Missoula, Montana — 2005
Apprentice to Cherokee shaman and silversmith Heyoka Merrifield
Ponte de Vecchio, Florence, Italy — 2004
Apprentice to master goldsmith Franco Benveniere
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts — 2001-2005
Bachelor of Fine Arts Magna Cum Laude, Department of Art

Awards & Accolades
Saul Bell Award nomination, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2018
Featured Artist, Bellevue Arts Festival, 2018
Alphonse Mucha: Quest for Beauty museum exhibition, Italy & England, 2016 - 2017
Granted exclusive rights to recreate the works of Alphone Mucha by the Mucha family, 2015
Best in Jewelry, Indian Wells Art Festival, Indian Wells, California, 2013
Best in Jewelry, Connoisseurs’ Marketplace, Menlo Park, California, 2011
Juror, Celebration of Craftswomen, San Francisco, California, 2010
Best of Show, Fiesta Hermosa, Hermosa Beach, California, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016
Best of Show, Pleasanton Heritage Festival, Pleasanton, California, 2007
Magna Cum Laude Honors Student, Wiliams College, Massachusetts, 2001-2005

Selected Shows and Galleries
Longworth Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2012 - 2022
Palo Alto Festival of the Arts, Palo Alto, California, 2019
San Diego Festival of the Arts, San Diego, California, 2019
Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival, Walnut Creek, California, 2018
Bellevue Festival of the Arts, Washington, 2009 - 2018, legacy artist
Il Vittoriano, Rome, Italy, 2017
Montclair Fine Arts Festival, Montclair, California, 2017
Los Altos Art & Wine Festival, Los Altos, California, 2016
Sainsbury Center & Museum, Norwich, England, 2016
Russell-Cotes Museum, Bournemouth, England, 2016
Connoisseeurs’ Marketplace, Menlo Park, California, 2015
The Village Gallery, Lahaina, Maui, 2014
Santa Monica Contemporary Crafts Market, Santa Monica, California, 2012
Chalk Farm Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2009 to 2012
Mill Valley Festival of the Arts, Mill Valley, California 2011
Avalon Gallery, Carmel by the Sea, California, 2009 - 2014
Indian Wells Art Festival, Indian Wells, California, 2010.
The Maui Enchantress, Wailea, Maui, 2009 - 2011
San Francisco Contemporary Crafts Market, San Francisco, California, 2009
Human Arts Gallery, Ojai, California, 2008
Malibu Festival of the Arts, Malibu, California, 2008
Celebration of Craftswomen, San Francisco, California, 2007 - 2012, juror
Fiesta de Artes, Los Gatos, California, 2006

Private Collections
Teri Polo, Los Angeles, California Whoopi Goldberg, New Jersey
John Mucha, London, England
Peter S. Beagle, Oakland, California
Robin Hobb, Tacoma, Washington

Publication & Media Appearances
Alcove De Kore Magazine, fall 2024 British Vogue, August 2022 Marin Independent Journal, 2021 Enchanted Living Magazine, summer 2019
RioPro Magazine, winter 2018
Southern Jewelry News, 2018
Art Jewelry Magazine, March 2016
Ornament Magazine, 2013
Bay Area News Group, 2011
Offbeat Bride, 2011
Evolve Magazine, 2009
San Francisco Examiner, winter 2009
San Francisco Chronicle, 2009
Crafts Report Magazine, 2009
Pleasanton Heritage, summer 2007