ABOUT BSGNY

The Bead Society of Greater New York was founded in January, 1988, by students of Yoshie Marubashi.

Yoshie was an instructor of bead work and knotting in the seminar department at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. The class she taught was called “Baubles, Bangles and Bead Stringing,” a class which was so enjoyed by her students that many of them took it several times and then decided to form a bead society.

Information on how to organize a bead society was obtained from the Bead Society of Greater Washington. The group then sought a convenient place to meet. With the help of Joan Volpe, Director of the Seminar Department at Fashion Institute, they procured a room there for meetings.

Esther Esses became the first president of the bead society in 1988. Under her leadership the bead society developed rapidly and a regular schedule of meetings was instituted. Meetings were now held on the last Wednesday of the month from September to June (except when there was a conflict with a major holiday) as they are even now.

A speaker at a bead society meeting presented slides of her family’s traditional native American beadwork. This speaker offered to give society members a workshop on bead weaving techniques which members eagerly attended. This was the first of many workshops presented ever since.

The society prospered as new members offered more and more ideas on diversifying the program offerings. Members attended bead bazaars in Washington and craft fairs in Massachusetts and published a Bead Resources list. Many members attended the Second International Bead Conference held by The Bead Society of Greater Washington

Ethel Wagner became our second president in 1990. Our monthly lectures now included such national known bead artists as David Chatt, Diane Fitzgerald, Helen Banes, Tory Hughes, Joyce Scott and Ramona Solberg.

In this period the society began a tradition of having two dinners every year - in December and June. Bead vendors are invited to these parties which enables our members to dine and shop for beads!

In 1993 the first formal bead society exhibition was presented to celebrate our fifth anniversary in Building C of the Fashion Institute.

In September, 1996, Julia Putterman became president of the bead society.

By 1997 the society was invited by The American Craft Museum to present a three day beading weekend there, called The World of Beads.

It consisted of the society’s second formal exhibition workshops for the public, demonstrations of beading techniques, lecturers, a children’s workshop, bead vendors, and the sale of books and jewelry made by our members. This well-planned event brought record crowds to the museum. (Click here to see our members' work from that first World of Beads show and the six shows that followed.)