Robert Ebendorf

Robert Ebendorf also known as Robert William Ebendorf, Robert W. Ebendorf, and Bob Ebendorf, is an internationally renowned Metalsmith and jeweler, considered by some to be a leader in the studio jewelry movement. [ [http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2003/09/26/31394.html Retrospective of Metalsmith: Robert Ebendorf’s Pioneering Career - Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum - Absolutearts.com ] ] He is well known for using found objects in his art jewelry. His work has been published in many books, is in many galleries around the world, and he has even had his own retrospective art exhibition at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. [ [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa598.htm The Jewelry of Robert Ebendorf: A Retrospective of Forty Years ] ] He was one of the founding members of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) in 1970 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_North_American_Goldsmiths] , is an inductee of the National Metalsmiths Hall of Fame, [ [http://www.news.ecu.edu/releases/ebendorfhalloffame.html ECU's Ebendorf inducted into Hall of Fame ] ] and is currently the Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Art at East Carolina University. [ [http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/metals/Faculty.cfm Faculty ] ]

Life

Robert Ebendorf (1938- ) was born on September 30 in Topeka, Kansas. His father, Harry Ebendorf, was a doctor, and his mother, Nomah Large, was a homemaker. He also had a sister. Around the time he was four or five years old his father would take him to his paternal grandmother and grandfather's tailor shop every Saturday. There he would watch them work together creating articles of clothing. He credits the time spent there and with his mother helping create his sensitivity to the world around him to helping him chose a career in art.

Ebendorf had trouble with academics because of a learning disability, dyslexia. Because of this, he excelled at sports instead of academics. He was offered full scholarships for wrestling and football to attend the Air Force Academy, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Nebraska. He instead with the encouragement of his high school art teacher decided to pursue art and chose to attend the University of Kansas to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He received his undergraduate degree in 1960 and continued on at the school to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1963. After graduation, Ebendorf received a Fulbright Scholar Grant to study abroad at the State School of Applied Arts and Crafts in Oslo, Norway. He returned to Norway again in 1965 when he was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant. He stayed there until 1966, working in Fredikstad at Norway Silver Designs. [ [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/ebendo04.htm Robert Ebendorf Oral History Interview Conducted by Tacey Rosolowski for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2004 ] ]

Work

Ebendorf is famous for finding objects that are under appreciated or overlooked by society and giving them a new life. Objects such as fossils, animal claws, or even pull tops from lids have all found their way into his art.

Notes

Sources

Interview with Robert Ebendorf conducted by Tracey Rosolowski for the Smithsonian "Archives of American Art" http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/ebendo04.htm

East Carolina University Faculty Listinghttp://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/metals/Faculty.cfm