Jeweler, sculptor, and teacher, Florence Resnikoff, passed away in early April. Born in 1920, Resnikoff began exploring jewelry and enameling through adult education courses while working as a registered medical technician in Chicago in the 1940s. After moving to Palo Alto in the early ‘50s, her work grew in leaps and bounds. Resnikoff met Margaret de Patta through the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco, who became a significant influence in her work. She returned to school, receiving her BFA in Sculpture from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and an MFA in Art from San Jose State University. She also furthered her studies at the Royal College of Art, and with Stanley Lechtzin at Tyler School of Art.
Resnikoff returned to CCAC in 1973 as a teacher and eventually served as Head of the Metal Arts Program there, retiring in 1989. She was designated a Professor Emerita in 1990, and the Florence Resnikoff Emerita Scholarship Fund was created there at that time.
Resnikoff’s work combined complex electrical-based processes with ancient techniques to create vibrantly colored jewelry and metalwork. Her involvement with the Metal Arts Guild helped her build her repertoire of techniques and materials in which she accented her gold and silver jewelry with colorful jewels and enamels. Her later work included both jewelry and liturgical commissions.
Among her many honors and numerous exhibitions, Resnikoff was named a California Living Treasure in 1985. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the City and County of San Francisco, The California Art Collection of the Oakland Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, NY.
