Seven-hundred attendees participated in the Society of North American Goldsmith’s 36th annual conference, “Intersection,” held in Cleveland in June. It was co-hosted by the Cleveland Institute of Art and Kent State University.

3M was the official corporate sponsor of the 2005 conference. Other major sponsors were the National Endowment for the Arts and Rio Grande, with additional funding from Billanti Casting Co., Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery, Roger Hollander and Courtenay McGowen, KerrLab, Mobilia Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, United Precious Metal Refining Inc., Aaron Faber Gallery, and Tim Roark Imports.

Gijs Bakker was the keynote speaker for the conference program, which included two panels, “Theory and Practice: A Dialogue Between Educators and Practitioners,” moderated by Suzanne Ramljak; and “The Price of Gold,” moderated by Susan Kingsley and Christina Miller. The annual juried student slide show, this year titled “Learning Curves,” was presented by Kim Tatalick. A dozen exhibitions were held concurrently with the conference in area galleries and museums.

SNAG also raised $11,068 for its Educational Endowment scholarships and educational programming, through its annual silent auction and raffle.

SNAG’s 2006 conference, “Mind & Matter: From Thought to Object,” is scheduled for May 24–27 in Chicago and will be hosted by the Chicago Metal Arts Guild. Registration brochures will be mailed in early 2006.