I live in the quiet comfort of my own mind. My objects are a translation of that internal habitat that I grow with such care.
I connect objects for the body to objects for the home, celebrating the choice of protecting our internal private habitats with the public ones we display when we choose to wear jewelry. It is an effort to ensure that everything in our world has a place, a space, a home to belong in. Some are home on the body, some are home inside, and some are home with the people who hold them.
My jewelry, sketches, metal work, and designs communicate this space and my emotions: the extent and extensions of home, both within and without. A space to rest, a space to feel, and a space to love and be loved.
Bio
Emma J Cooley was born in Western Colorado, growing up with toes in the sand and fingers in the river of her desert home.
Her work flows between jewelry art, charcoal, graphite and pastels, and objects for the home. She translates themes of internal spaces and connections to external habitats and homes.
She holds a Bachelors of Science from Fort Lewis College ’21 and later studied at Istituto Lorenzo de Medici ’26 in Florence, Italy where she was mentored by Daria Borovkova and Marzia Rossi. She is a passionate teacher, cook, friend, and artist. She is currently based in Somerville, Massachusetts.
CV
STUDIES
2024-2026 Istituto Lorenzo de'Medici, Florence, Italy
Professional Certificate of Jewelry Design
2025 Istituto Gemmologico Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
Basic Gemology Certification
2018-2021 Fort Lewis College, Colorado, USA
Bachelor's of Science, Biology. Minor, Studio Arts
EXHIBITIONS
2026 Florence, Italy
"Weighs and Means" LdM Gallery, Curator and Exhibitor, Group Show
2025, 2026 Florence, Italy
"Nurturing the Future" Museo degli Innocenti, Group Show
2025 Florence, Italy
La Chicca Boutique Ristorante, La Casa Collectiva Group Exhibition
2023 Paonia, Colorado, USA
Elsewhere Studios Final Friday Residency Show
2021 Durango, Colorado, USA
Fort Lewis College 60th Annual Student Juried Art Show
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2023 Elsewhere Studios, Paonia, Colorado, USA
2022 Botanical Society of America, Young Botanist Award 2022
2021 Fort Lewis College 60th Annual Student Juried Art Show Jurors Choice
Award for original linoleum print "Yucca baccata"
2021 Colorado Native Plant Society
Professional talk on thesis project floristic survey of "Vascular Plant Diversity in the HD Mountains
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2023-2025 June- July, Arts Program Silversmithing Instructor
High School High Scholar [HS]2, Carbondale, Colorado, USA
2024 February, Intensive Silversmithing Course Instructor
Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Carbondale, Colorado, USA
2023-2024 Silversmithing Studio and Teaching Assistant
Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Carbondale, Colorado, USA
2018-2021 Silversmithing and Lapidary Studio Assistant and Jewelry Instructor
Four Corners Gem and Mineral Club, Durango, Colorado, USA
PUBLICATIONS
2022 The Artful Collective: Reclaim Collection, Virtual Publication