Mignon Faget (born November 1933) is a jewelry designer based in her native

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Faget has long been acknowledged as one of New Orleans' premier designers of fine jewelry. Her family settled in the city in the late 18th century after leaving

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. Painter Jacqueline Humphries is her daughter. Jewelry designer John Humphries is her son.

Early life and education

Mignon Faget was raised in a Creole French downtown family in

, by her father, a doctor from the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and her mother of French descent. Mignon Faget has a sister of 16 years her eldest and a brother of 9 years her eldest. Faget attended the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Academy of the Sacred Heart as a young woman. She credits much of her talent to her years at

H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University, located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter. Newcomb was the fir ...

where she graduated in 1955 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

and a concentration in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. While at Newcomb College she studied under Jules Struppeck (1915–1993), Pat Travigno (b. 1922) and Sarah "Sadie" Irvine (1887–1970). Faget feels a course entitled "Design in Nature" taught by Robert Durant "Robin" Feild (1893–1979) had a major influence on her future career.The Historic New Orleans Collection
Mignon Faget: A Life in Art and Design
Exhibit Guide. She additionally studied at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...

in Paris, the

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

in New York and print-making at

St. Mary's Dominican College St. Mary's Dominican College was a liberal arts college for women in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. History The college was founded by the Dominican Sisters congregation of St. Mary as St. Mary's Academy. The high school section se ...

in New Orleans.

Career

Faget launched her first ready-to-wear line in 1969 in a studio in the Riverbend neighborhood of New Orleans. Faget studied sculpture at Newcomb then transitioned to design at D.H. Holmes Department store. While making a belt one day, Faget melted down wedding gifts into a design reminiscent of sand dollars and the sea. When customers saw the design, they asked to wear the shells as pendants, inspiring her to look further into creating accessories. Since then, Faget has worked primarily in jewelry, creating sculptural jewelry inspired by nature and animals specifically, from Louisiana. She renovated a barge board cottage and it became the early headquarters housing her studio, jewelry workshop and retail gallery for many years. In 1997, she renovated a neo-classical former bank building to house her company, in addition to having galleries in

, Metairie, and

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. After opening her new facility, she donated her original location on Dublin Street to the

Preservation Resource Center The Preservation Resource Center is a non-profit organization which promotes the historic preservation of Buildings and architecture of New Orleans, buildings and architecture in New Orleans. Mission New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans is a city ...

Collections and commissions

Faget has designed special commissions for various organizations, including the

, Desire NOLA, Woodlands Trail and Park,

, the

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is an American orchestra based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the Gulf South. The orchestra performs at the Orpheum Theater. The Louisiana Philharmonic ...

, the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

, th
Junior League of New Orleans
th
Louisiana Nature Center
at the

Audubon Nature Institute The Audubon Nature Institute (American English: ) is a family of museums and parks dedicated to nature based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The facilities include the Audubon Zoo, Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Audubon Park, New ...

, and the Friends of the

Audubon Zoo Audubon Zoo is an American zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, Audubon Park, and Audu ...

, among others.Biographical/Reference file, Mignon Faget, Newcomb Archives, Tulane University. Her designs for

Newcomb College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University, located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter. Newcomb was the ...

feature the motif of the oak tree, a prominent symbol in the college's history. She has also designed jewelry for various New Orleans

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

krewes A krewe ( ) is a social organization that stages parades and/or balls for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout L ...

for their annual balls.

Exhibitions

Faget's work has appeared in various galleries across the country. In 1976 and 1980 she had solo showings in Kruger Gallery in New York City at which she showcased her latest designs.

Inspiration

Her jewelry is often inspired by her local environment, such as New Orleans architecture and culture or based on forms in nature. Faget describes her work as a "crossover between a jeweled accessory and a piece of jewelry". Faget designs by collections and has created works entitled Sea, Romanesque Return, Zea, Animal Crackers, Armament, Schema, among others. Citing a dictionary, Faget herself referred to her work as "biomorphic," meaning "related to, derived from, or incorporating the forms of living beings, used especially of primitive and abstract art." However, she has also made work drawing inspiration from man-made elements such as architecture and place-based culture.

Materials

She fabricates in gold, sterling silver, bronze, precious, and semi-precious stones. She also designs items for personal and home adornment and gifts.

Philanthropy

After

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, her business raised over $150,000 in eighteen months, which she donated to artists and arts organizations. Similarly, after BP's

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum in ...

she raised nearly $100,000. In fall of 2010, Mignon Faget was honored with a retrospective exhibit at the Historic New Orleans Collection entitled ''Mignon Faget: A Life in Art and Design''. The exhibition opened at the Louisiana State Museum Capitol Park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, November 2011.

Accolades

2013: Honored as Forum35 Art Melt Louisiana Art Legend 2018: Tulane University Distinguished Alumni Award

References

City Classic by Susan Langehennig of the Times Picayune, September 2010

Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly, Summer 2010: Mignon Faget: A Life in Art and Design
(PDF)
The Gold is in their hands, New York times Student institute

Louisiana State Museum Host exhibit studying life of Mignon Faget, The LSU Reveille by Emily Herrington, November 2011

External links

*
Finding aid to the Mignon Faget Jewelry Sales Records, Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Library Special Collections, Tulane University

Collier Prénom

List of Mignon Faget exhibitions

List of special commissionsThe Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly, Volume XXVII, Number 3, Summer 2010.Finding aid to the Robert "Robin" Durant Feild Papers, Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Library Special Collections, Tulane University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faget, Mignon 1933 births Living people Artists from New Orleans American jewelry designers Academy of the Sacred Heart (New Orleans, Louisiana) alumni Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College alumni Parsons School of Design alumni American people of Creole descent