James Frederick Woell, born in

Evergreen Park, Illinois Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. In 2020, the population was 19,943. The village shares a border with Chicago on the north, east, and south sides; while also sharing a border with Oak Lawn on the west side. H ...

in 1934, was an American

metalsmith A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest list of metalworking occupations, metalworking o ...

who specialized in found object assemblages in his metal work. He received a degree in economics from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in 1956, and would later serve in the

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for two years. Upon returning to Illinois after his time in the military, Woell went back to Urbana-Champaign to pursue a BFA in art education. It was during this time that Woell was encouraged by his ceramics professor, Don Frith, to take a metals class at the school with metalsmith Robert Von Newman who, at the time, was considered to be one of the best in his field. Woell decided to take the class, and proceeded to enjoy it so much that he would attend the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, something Neumann had recommended to him, and received his MFA in metalsmithing in 1962. Upon his graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Woell taught for a short period of time. In 1967, he received a scholarship from Cranbook Academy of Art in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

to study sculpture and graduated in June 1969 with an MFA. Woell would once again teach, this time for four years at the University of Wisconsin School system, while he also had his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts and the Lee Nordness Gallery in New York. One of his more famous works that appeared at this exhibition was his piece titled, ''Come Alive, You're in the Pepsi Generation.'' The piece is made from silver, brass, steel, glass, and found objects, and features a photo of a woman with an open mouth smile mounted on a half circle object with the colors of Pepsi Cola as well as 5 small Pepsi bottle caps attached to it with chain and bullet shells. The result of Woell's solo exhibition was his work featured on magazine covers, television, and many other types of media. Woell describes this situation in his interview with Donna Gold, where he states, "...as a result of that show, a year later there was an article on me and my work in ''

Craft Horizons ''Craft Horizons'' is a periodical magazine that documents and exhibits crafts, craft artists, and other facets of the field of American craft. The magazine was founded by Aileen Osborn Webb and published from 1941 to 1979. It included editoria ...

'' magazine... now that did make quite an impact, and from then on I was asked to-it seemed like there was a whole series of magazine or books written on jewelry; they wanted a sample of something I did." J. Fred Woell continued to teach for much of his life, and moved to

Deer Isle, Maine Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...

to teach at the

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, commonly called "Haystack," is a craft school located at 89 Haystack School Drive on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. History Haystack was founded in 1950 by a group of craft artists in the Belfast, Maine are ...

from 1973 to 2001. He also taught at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, as well as the University of New York at New Paltz, prior to retirement in 2001. J. Fred Woell died in Deer Isle, Maine in 2015; he was 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woell, James Frederick 1934 births 2015 deaths American metalsmiths University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni People from Deer Isle, Maine