Join Diane C. Wright, Senior Curator of Glass and Contemporary Craft at the Toledo Museum of Art, for a journey in jewels that spans nearly a century and crosses continents, from Manhattan to Paris to Los Angeles. Discover how these hundred years transformed the ways American and European women moved through the world, purchased jewelry, and expressed themselves through what they wore. Each remarkable jewel has a story—sometimes many—linking visionary makers, legendary wearers, and moments of dazzling glamour. From inventive designers to Hollywood icons, this talk invites you into a world of jewels where history, style, and glamour meet. 

Please join us for the lecture from 2–3 p.m. in Fath Auditorium with light refreshments to follow from 3–4 p.m. in the Marek Family Commons. 

Diane C. Wright is Senior Curator of Glass and Contemporary Craft at the Toledo Museum of Art. With more than 20 years of experience in contemporary and craft-based practices, she is interested in artists who explore and express their ideas through a mastery of materials such as ceramics, fiber, metals, and glass. She has championed a wide range of voices through exhibitions and acquisitions, including Beth Lipman, Matt Wedel, Sibylle Peretti, Amber Cowan, Lenore Tawney, Viola Frey, Katsuyo Aoki, Wangechi Mutu, Joyce Scott and Elizabeth Talford Scott, Josiah McElheny, Claire Falkenstein, Deborah Czeresko, and Olga de Amaral. She is also a recognized scholar of Tiffany Studios’ stained-glass windows and mosaics.   

Wright’s most recent project, Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane, explores a century of glamorous jewelry, taking you on a journey from 19th-century Paris to present-day Hollywood. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog featuring lavish new photography and will travel to venues across the United States.   

Wright has held positions at Blair House, The Corning Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. She holds an MA in the history of decorative arts from Parsons the New School for Design and is originally from Los Angeles.   

image credit: Meta Overbeck (American, 1881–1946)  under the direction of Louis Comfort Tiffany for Tiffany & Co. (est. 1837, United States) Necklace and earrings 1920s gold, sapphire, green garnet, enamel 

If you need accessibility accommodations, please contact us in advance at [email protected] or fill out the accessibility request form.