Levi Higgs, MA in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies 2014 graduate, is an Archivist and Social Media Manager at David Webb Jewels. 

“I’ve always said that jewelry is the ultimate decorative art, and as an object, it is often such a perfect capsule for storytelling. My background is in art history and material culture, so using jewelry as the lens to investigate these categories have been really fulfilling. For example, the fundamental tropes of Art Deco are perfectly embodied by the geometric gems and new technologies used to create jewels of the period. Add to that a mysterious heiress, and you’ve got yourself a great story!”

Higgs scholarship seeks more diversity in the research surrounding fine jewelry. “Where are the articles, books, essays, and editorials about LGBTQ jewelers? There are plenty of well-known and amazing historic jewelers who would fall into that category, but it’s always with a wink and nod that they are written about as perpetual bachelors. Visibility matters. There is ever increasingly more of an interest in female designers, which is wonderful.”