Join MAD’s Education department for a teacher workshop exploring the storytelling power of jewelry. Our program begins with a talk with MAD associate curator Barbara Paris Gifford about the museum’s collection of studio and contemporary art jewelry, followed by a private viewing of the exhibition Jewelry Stories. Next, educators will participate in an art-making workshop led by artist and fashion icon Debra Rapoport, transforming items usually thought of as trash—toilet paper rolls, plastic mesh, tea bags, bottle tops—into statement jewelry pieces that tell a personal story. 

MAD will provide all art materials, but we invite participants to bring any items of personal significance that they wish to incorporate into their project (postcards, scraps of fabric, trinkets etc.). Coffee and morning refreshments will be provided.

New York State Educators will earn 4 CTLE hours.

We strive to make our programs accessible to all teachers. If you are experiencing financial hardship and do not teach at a NYC Title 1 school, please email the education department at education@madmuseum.org to request a fee waiver.  

About the Artist

Debra Rapoport is a visual artist working with nontraditional and repurposed materials to create clothing and accessories that she wears with great panache. Her flamboyant embellishments and hats start with A/B/C: Assembling, Building, and Constructing for the body, incorporating color, texture, and layering. Embracing the idea that frugality is fun, she constantly reinvents and curates her closet without being a conspicuous consumer. Rapaport's work is in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design, Metropolitan Museum of Art, LA County Museum of Art, Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Athens’ Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, the Hermitage Museum, and the Helen Williams Drutt Collection.