A World of Possibilities

Each summer, Eleanna Feldman 25 JM makes at least one piece of jewelry that she can wear on the first day of class. For the fall of 2023, the Montclair, NJ native created a choker out of many almost identical curvilinear metal pieces that she cut out with a saw and filed by hand.

The choker is a complex and arresting piece that demonstrates her skillful making, and Feldman laughs when she notes that if she were in the Jewelry + Metalsmithing (J+M) department’s Metcalf Building studios rather than her attic studio at home, there is a tool—the waterjet—that could cut out the pieces “literally in five seconds.”

Feldman came to RISD knowing she wanted to major in jewelry and metalsmithing and has spent two years mastering the traditional jewelry-making techniques that allow her to work by hand in her home studio. As she looks ahead, she plans to make greater use of the department’s high tech tools, continuing the journey she began early in her high school days.

Although Feldman did not attend an art-focused high school, she studied jewelry for five years before arriving at RISD, and won a Gold Key in the 2020 Scholastic Art Awards for the northern New Jersey region while a high school junior. She was accepted by a number of art colleges, but chose RISD because of its reputation and resources as well as its emphasis on metalworking. She was also intrigued by a firsthand account of what it was like to be a RISD student.

“My mom has a friend who went to RISD, and she talked about it a lot, how it was so much work, but she just loved it,” Feldman says. “Being surrounded by people who have similar interests. . . I wanted that kind of environment, a fast-paced, hardworking environment where I could learn as much as possible and come out with the connections to start a really good career.”

Helping Feldman get that start is the Walter M. Oppenheim Scholarship. Established in 2012 by Ruth Oppenheim in memory of her late husband, who was the former president of the Providence Jewelers Club, it is awarded to students of exceptional talent and promise.

“I definitely would not have been able to go to RISD if I didn’t have the financial aid that I do have,” Feldman says. “[Managing] the full price of RISD tuition was not in the cards for me.”

Now, Feldman says, “I’m surrounded by so many people who are just so incredible at what they do, and I really feel like I need to step it up and push myself harder. I feel like a lot of what is valuable about this environment is the constant need to push yourself. And that’s been very inspiring to me.”

Feldman has also been inspired by the support available within the J+M department. “Jewelry is a smaller department, and we get one-on-one time with our teachers and personal guidance,” Feldman says.

J+M students work with generous faculty like Barbara Seidenath, a jewelry designer, metalsmith and educator whose work is in the RISD Museum collection. She was a particular source of support during Feldman’s sophomore year.

“Barbara was so great and supportive,” Feldman says. “She would constantly come in on her days off to meet with us and help us through problems we were having. She really did take that extra step of getting to know us all and really helping us out on an individual level.”

In the next two years, Feldman hopes to take advantage of entrepreneurship workshops and other resources that RISD offers, take courses in departments outside of J+M and continue to develop her work.

“I really love the environment of RISD,” Feldman says, “and being surrounded by people who I get to be competitive with and be inspired by at the same time.”