When students in the metalsmithing and jewelry program at the University of North Texas wanted to make a lasting statement for the university’s first female president they decided to do it with style.
The students made original brooches for the inauguration of President Gretchen Bataille.
Gina Dill, owner of Kinne’s Jewelers, is a UNT student in the metalsmithing program.
Her brooch is one of the creations that wound up in a book UNT professor Ana M. Lopez compiled to commemorate the brooches students made for Bataille.
Dill said Lopez hit on the idea of creating special brooches for the incoming president after reading an article in Time.
According to the magazine story, then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright, choose brooches to reflect her attitude toward matters at hand. She made subtle statements about official business through her jewelry.
Lopez gave the assignment to her students and brought Bataille in to meet the group so they could research their subject a bit before beginning the projects.
The students chose a variety of themes and created their works from various metals including copper, 18-karat gold, sterling silver, bronze, nickel and brass.
The results were so successful, Lopez decided to put photos of the brooches and descriptions of the items — written by the artists — in a small, hardcover book called, “Brooching Bataille.”
The 19 brooches range from fairly traditional to etherial and abstract.
One brooch bears a woman’s face and body and is accented by three tiny white feathers.
Another represents the points of a star. Artist Rebecca Levine writes in the book that “the star has been a strong symbol of the University of North Texas since its establishment in 1890.”
Dill said her father, Francis Wiese, bought Kinne’s Jewelers when she was in high school, and she began working in the shop.
Wiese had worked in the store since 1951.
While spending time at Kinne’s, Dill said she got her first taste of the jewelry business, and she loved it.
Dill was also intrigued by metalsmithing and attended jewelry classes in Paris, Texas where the students first work with “brass and glass” before moving on to precious metals.
Dill designed a brooch with Bataille’s leadership role in mind.
Her “Big Girl Panties” brooch reminds the president to step up and take control of the situation — whatever it might be.
Dill said she gives her sister credit for coming up with the theme of the brooch to her sister, an educator, who said during difficult times, she and her colleagues often admonish each other to “put your big girl panties on” and get the job done.
Although more conservative, Dill’s brooch is somewhat similar to designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s work — a feminine form adorned with a textured metal pair of panties.
Gaultier is known for dressing stars such as Madonna. His pink eau de toilette comes in a frosted glass bottle shaped like a curvaceous woman and in a corsett.
Dill said the details of how the piece was made might be too technical to explain to someone who is not a metalsmith, but some of the features of her brooch include bezel setting and hinge pins with tiny, separate tubings.
The piece is trimmed with small, green dyed onyz stones.
Dill said she has enjoyed going college. She decided to go back for her degree when her children were teenagers.
She earned an associate’s degree at North Central Texas College before enrolling in the metalsmithing and jewelry program at UNT.
Dill minored in philosophy and plans to graduate with a bachelor of fine arts degree in December — at the same time her daughter graduates.
She is also scheduled to leave for Italy soon. The business owner and artisan is going to earn nine credit hours in upper-level art history.
She admits she is a little nervous about the trip. But she is excited to have the chance to study for eight weeks in a country that is steeped in art traditions.
She will travel to Italy with a group of students from the University of Georgia, Dill said. Her husband and children are planning to join her for a visit during the course.
Dill displays the brooch and a few other special items in a tall glass case at the front of Kinne’s Jewelers.
Besides the brooch dedicated to Bataille, Dill said she is especially proud of a pendant she made while she was a student. It features a blue stone with marbleized color that “looks like the world,” and a key near the clasp that symbolizes “education is the key.”
Reporter Delania Trigg may be
contacted at dtrigg@ntin.net
