Shaping Jewelry Collections in Museums at NYC Jewelry Week 2025

Three leading curators—Joanne T. Hyppolite (NMAAHC), John Stuart Gordon (Yale University), and Ulysses Dietz (Newark Museum, emeritus)—join historian Toni Greenbaum for a dynamic conversation on the evolving role of jewelry in museum collections. They’ll explore diverse strategies, challenges, and opportunities in acquisition, exhibition, and education, offering insight into how institutions engage audiences through jewelry.

Toni Greenbaum is an art historian specializing in 20th- and 21st-century jewelry and metalwork. She has written countless journal articles, book chapters, and exhibition catalogs, and is the author of Messengers of Modernism: American Studio Jewelry, 1940–1960. She lectures internationally and teaches Theory and Criticism of Contemporary Jewelry at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Joanne Hyppolite was born in Haiti and grew up in Boston, MA. She is the African Diaspora curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. Prior to joining the Smithsonian in 2014, she was the Chief Curator at HistoryMiami Museum for eight years. Joanne has published two popular middle-grade novels for children with Penguin Random House: Seth and Samona which won the Marguerite DeAngeli prize for New Children’s Fiction and Ola Shakes It Up. Her adult fiction has published In the Caribbean Writer and The Butterfly’s Way: Voice from the Haitian Dyaspora. She holds Ph.D. in literature from the University of Miami, an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and B.A. in African American Studies and Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania. Joanne lives in Maryland and Florida.

John Stuart Gordon is the Benjamin Attmore Hewitt Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Yale University Art Gallery. He grew up among the redwoods of Northern California before venturing East and receiving a B.A. from Vassar College, an M.A. from the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture, and a PH.D. from Boston University. He works on all aspects of American design and has written on glass, American modernism, studio ceramics, and postmodernism. His exhibition projects have explored postwar American architecture, turned wood, and industrial design. In addition, he supervises the Furniture Study, the Gallery’s expansive study collection of American furniture and wooden objects.

Ulysses Grant Dietz served as curator of Decorative Arts at The Newark Museum from 1980 until 2017, and was appointed Chief Curator in 2012. As the curator of 114 exhibitions covering all aspects of the decorative arts from colonial to contemporary, he studied and collected furniture, silver, base metals, glass, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry. Ulysses has been labeled a ‘national resource,’ a man with ‘encyclopedic knowledge (who) has helped put the Newark Museum on the map as a vanguard of modern decorative arts.’ He is particularly proud of his work on the Museum’s National Historic Landmark Ballantine House, built in1885. The Ballantine House was reinterpreted between 1992 and 1994 with a groundbreaking installation called House & Home.

Mr. Dietz is a great-great grandson of Ulysses and Julia Grant. His is a trustee of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University. He has lived with his husband Gary in Maplewood, NJ for over 40 years.

Each November, NYC Jewelry Week proudly presents ‘The Week,’ a 7-day celebration dedicated to the art of jewelry. This annual festival invites a global audience to explore the world of jewelry through a dynamic mix of in-person and virtual experiences, spanning New York City and beyond. Our hybrid program features virtual programs streamed on YouTube alongside immersive on-site activities.

In-person, NYC Jewelry Week brings together leading figures in the jewelry industry to curate extraordinary experiences, including exhibitions, exclusive shopping opportunities, and retail collaborations. Attendees can also participate in insightful panel discussions that explore trends, challenges, and innovations in the field. Each event creates memorable jewelry moments that celebrate the creativity and craftsmanship of the industry.

Committed to inclusivity, many of our programs are free and open to the public. NYC Jewelry Week seeks to reshape how people view jewelry by inviting everyone to appreciate the artistry behind the scenes. Join us in celebrating the transformative power of jewelry and experience the beauty and innovation that define our community.

We look forward to welcoming you to NYCJW25!

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