A Peek Inside the Classroom: Jewelry and Metalsmithing

It’s Tuesday afternoon, as sunlight streams through the windows of the jewelry and metalsmithing art studio in the lower level of Bloomfield Hills High School. Around twenty students gather at large work tables. Teacher Matt Beauchamp, who also teaches ceramics and is the visual department head, stands at a lectern, taking attendance. 

Students hunch over tables setting up equipment to work on their current project: a pendant with cutout designs using small brass pieces, stamping tools, drills, and handsaws. Mr. Beauchamp calls students to the metal buffing machine. Wearing safety goggles, he holds up one student’s design, adds some polishing cream, and touches it to the spinning wheel. He shows the difference between the polished and unpolished sides. Students take a pair of goggles and line up for their turn at the machine.

Students work on their pieces at their own pace, and a handful of students have already finished the pendant so they are ready for the next project. Mr. Beauchamp brings these students to another corner of the studio to demonstrate new skills. First, he introduces acid etching on metal. On a strip of copper, Mr. Beauchamp draws a design with a marker. Then, he opens a container of a dark brown mixture of acid and submerges the metal strip. After 1-2 hours the areas without the marker will be etched. For the next skill, Mr. Beauchamp holds up some small stones and sits down at a drilling machine. The teacher demonstrates how to bore a small hole into the rock using specialized diamond drill bits. These can be used as beads for pendants and earrings. 

Buzzing, whirring, and grinding sounds are coming from all around the studio. William Bujoll (grade 12), who is taking the class for the sixth and final time, works on an advanced project - a wire-braided ring. Bujoll  concentrates on setting up the ring at the soldering station and fires up the blowtorch. Other students focus on drilling and hand sawing. 

Students enroll in jewelry and metalsmithing for many different reasons. Isabelle Johnston (grade 11) says, “It’s a cool class to take, I like learning new tools that I’ve never used before.” Abby Green (grade 10) hopes to go into dentistry and is taking jewelry because the tools are very similar. Abby says, “It’s hard to learn to use both hands, but it gets easier, I learned to be patient.” Reid Gaunt (grade 10) has extensive experience with blacksmithing and welding and says he is enjoying learning new materials and the soldering process; he also likes the hands-on work. 

Nearing the end of the 90-minute class, students clean up their workstations, put away their materials, and pack up their belongings. The students seem satisfied with their work and look forward to their next hands-on session in jewelry and metalsmithing.