The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) is an organization of jewelers and metal artists in North America. It is located in Eugene, Oregon.
Foundation
The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) was founded in Chicago in 1969. The initial meeting was convened there in November 1968 by Philip Morton and was attended by Robert Ebendorf, Phillip Fike, Hero Kielman, L. Brent Kington, Stanley Lechtzin, Kurt Matzdorf, Ronald Hayes Pearson, and Olaf Skoogfors. A second meeting took place in January 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans Christensen, Fred Fenster, Arline Fisch, Michael Jerry, Orland Larson, Miye Matsukata, Ronald McNeish, John Prip, Richard Thomas, Harold Stacey, Barry Merritt, and Ed Wiener among others. After this, SNAG was founded, with 64 original members. SNAG was formed to create a structure for conferences and exhibitions. In 1970, it held its first conference in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The same year, it held its first exhibition at the Minnesota Museum of Art.
Activities The organization provides workshops, competitions, and lectures to its membership. It also provides an environment for contemporary jewelers and metalsmiths to share information.
Publications SNAG's first publication was the SNAG Newsletter, begun in 1975; it was followed by SNAG News (1993–2012) and Riveting News (from 2012). Two earlier periodicals, Golddust (1976–1977) and the Goldsmiths Journal (1977–1980), developed into the quarterly magazine Metalsmith, which launched in the autumn of 1980. It is currently published five times a year.
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