MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — An age-old art form has new students at The Blake School in Minneapolis.
For the last two weeks in September, high school students taking art teacher Brian Sago's Intro to Printmaking class learned about gilding.
"Gilding is the application of genuine or metal leaf on a surface. So it can be any surface — it just has to be properly prepped and the adhesive working," explained Amy Ouradnik, a local gilder who led the workshop.
Ouradnik said it all started when a friend donated her material of composition gold and aluminum leaf. Sepp Leaf Products in NYC also donated products.
She decided to use it as an opportunity to give back. Ouradnik, whose daughter is a teacher at Blake, suggested she teach Sago's students.
"It's an art form that's out there. People see it every day. You see it on glass windows that you walk by in storefronts and yet it's not a thing that you hear about in art school," Sago said. "I have an art degree in college. It was not an option to take gilding as a class."
"I've taken art, drawing, maybe painting but gilding is completely different," said Miguel Quintero, a junior at Blake.
For those new to gilding, it can be frustrating.
"I think it's really cool but I think it's also really kind of hard," Blake freshman Rayan Abdullahi said. "If you mess up, the materials are very delicate."
Students gilded everything from pictures frames, to bricks, to a classroom stool.
Ouradnik is one of the local gilders who worked on restoring the centerpiece of the Minnesota State Capitol: The Quadriga.
"Anybody can pick it up so it doesn't need to be so exclusive," Ouradnik said.
She hopes this workshop helps demystify the process, saying, "Not to make it so precious, but to make it something that you can work with."
Ouradnik also hopes it inspires students to use gilding on different projects. During class, students screen printed on gilded paper.
A video from the workshop will also be featured at the Global Gilding Symposium.
Ouradnik is president of the Society of Gilders — a nonprofit, educational organization devoted to the art and craft of gilding. They have members around the world.
The Society of Gilders will be hosting the Global Gilding Symposium Oct. 9-Oct. 30. The inaugural event will include in-person classes across the country, as well as online options. They will also have free videos available for those interested in learning more about gilding.
Sago said the idea is that, "Teenagers realize that gilding is a thing but also that gilders realize that they can teach to teenagers if they want to. As a profession, it's not that it's a dying profession but there's a lot of knowledge that is at risk of being lost if it isn't passed on to younger kids."
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