2025 Board Members
CoMA is run by a volunteer board. We are all metalsmiths of varying stripes and believe that connecting artists is the key to building and maintaining our vibrant metal arts community in Colorado. Board members are elected at the Annual All Members meeting for two year terms even if they are appointed when positions become vacant before our Annual Meeting. If you are interested in joining the board or volunteering in another capacity (we can always use help!), contact our President, Kim Harrell, at president@coloradometalsmiths.org.
For 2025, the board will meet from 12:30 - 2 PM on the third Sunday of the month in February, March, April, May, June, September, October, and November. Traditionally, we hold a board retreat in January, and an annual members' meeting during our conference in July. Please note that dates and times are subject to change at short notice, but we will communicate such changes to our CoMA members.
Kim Harrell
she/her
President
Kim Harrell is a silversmith and jewelry artist who makes distinctly textured and clean-lined jewelry and silverware using precious metals occasionally combined with unconventional materials such as felt, rubber and steel. She studied at the London Metropolitan University, where she obtained a B.A. in Silversmithing, Jewellery and Allied Crafts. Kim is a Denver native and currently resides in Aurora, CO where she runs a private design studio, and teaches at The Art Students League of Denver and Metropolitan State University in Denver. Her work can be found at Forsythe Fine Jewelry in Buena Vista and is in several private collections in the USA and Europe. The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, now under the Denver Art Museum, acquired a set of her sculptural spoons for their permanent collection.
Kim has 18 years of board experience and is a graduate of the Colorado Business Committee's Leadership Art training program, and of Leadership Aurora. She was appointed by two successive Governors to serve on the Colorado Creative Industries Commission and has sat on numerous public art selection committees for the city of Aurora and the State of Colorado. Kim was a co-founder of what is now known as the Aurora Cultural Arts District and continues to be an active member in the Denver-metro area arts community as an educator, board member, donor, collector, and art business woman.
"I volunteer with CoMA because I love being part of a group of 'metalheads'! It is such an important aspect of sustaining connection with colleagues, learning new things, sharing our knowledge and giving a hand up to the next generation."
Kathy Joleaud
Vice-President
Kathy is a multi-media artist with a strong business background. Just retired, Kathy worked for over ten years at the Walton Family Foundation, helping grantees usher their grant applications through the entire process, from drafting their goals and budgets through submission, review, approvals, reporting and payment. As vice president of CoMA, her focus is on fundraising. Kathy makes and collects silver jewelry, paints, does works on paper, and dabbles in printmaking and assemblage. Kathy has a degree in studio arts with a major in printmaking and art history.
Rynn Miller
Treasurer
I am a retired accountant and current low-income landlord. My degrees are in Geology and Business (Accounting Emphasis). I am also a metalsmith working in silver, gold, and luscious stones. I love the process – give me fire and red-hot metal any day!
I have served on several boards in the past, including the Alamosa School District Board of Directors, Alamosa American Youth Soccer Organization, and the Alamosa Boy Scouts. As an accountant, I have worked for numerous non-profits, including Shining Mountain Waldorf School, San Luis Valley Development Resources Group (economic development for 6 counties in Southern Colorado), The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and CU Boulder.
I have learned so much from COMA in the last 25 years(!) and love being able to give back to this organization. Sharing information, networking, learning, and meeting like-minded metalheads makes this group indispensable for me.
Lori Baer
Education Chair
Lori Baer is a retired Cartographer from the USGS/Mapping Division at the Denver Federal Center. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Earth Science and a minor in Fine Art. As a college student and in the following years, she balanced science and art, making sure her brain was equally balanced! Lori has been a member of CoMA since its first conference in Salida, Co in 1996! She has always had a passion for the knowledge of how things are made, as she started making jewelry and beading with her older sister when she was quite young. Those hobbies are still the ‘go to’ when time allows, and when the creative outlet is screaming.
Lori was on the CoMA Board for three years before becoming Co-Chair of CoMA in 2011-2012. She enjoys the jewelry community, the artists, and the ‘makers’, as well as the organizing and communication experiences that come with volunteering for a non profit organization she is quite passionate about.
Lori is honored to participate on the board again as Education Coordinator. She is open to all ideas and suggestions as to what we can do to ‘spark’ CoMA's mission in our state and in our communities. Truly, the networking aspect of this organization is exceptional, and communication is key, so helping to create and support events that encourage students and others to participate in this incredibly special, talented, and recognized nationwide nonprofit organization.
Coma email
303-881-6126
Helene Arendt
she/her
Secretary
Helene is the Artisan behind CSBmetalsmith – The Mountain Metalsmith. Her first mentor, her Opa, a master cabinetmaker from Austria instilled in her to always be inspired by nature and to value precision. Growing up in his Werkstätte, she learned early in life the importance of being meticulous and to always strive to create unique pieces of high quality. She understands the significance of having pride in putting her Mark on her pieces, just as Opa did on his.
Despite working full time in IT, she devotes the remainder of her time to continuing to hone her craft in her own Werkstätte. She is a board member of several nonprofit organizations, however she values her role as Secretary of CoMA most, because she feels strongly about giving back to this community that has inspired her over the years. She enjoys interacting closely with her colleagues which enhances her creative world.
Helene first achieved Roycroft Artisan status in June of 2020, an honor she is proud to have maintained. To remain a Roycroft Artisan in good standing she must continue to follow the rigorous standards of: excellent hand craftsmanship, outstanding design, ongoing artistic development, uniqueness of expression and professional acknowledgement. Doing so allows her to continue to use the Roycroft Mark on her pieces. She maintains this status by applying each year to be juried by Master Roycroft Artisans and is striving to become a Master Roycroft Artisan herself, which requires at least 5 years of Roycroft Artisan status.
Helene began her self-directed metalsmithing career in 2006 and has participated in classes and studio sessions with Harry Burdette, Travis Ogden, Bill Fretz, Micheal Good, Allison Antelman, Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez and Melissa Muir.
She exhibits her current work at The Kaleidoscope Gallery in Nederland Colorado, The Schoolhouse Gallery in East Aurora NY and The Roycroft Copper Shop Gallery in East Aurora NY.
Ethan Schultz
he/him
Communications Chair
Ethan is primarily a lapidary artist who makes jewelry out of stone, but loves working in metal where he can! He has a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from MSU-Denver with a focus in jewelry and metalsmithing, and has been our President's, Kim Harrell, studio assistant since 2018. Ethan has been with CoMA since September 2019. He loves creating new connections and working with other artists to build and strengthen our community.
Kevin McConnaughey
Member at Large
I am an amateur silversmith, jeweler, and lapidary artist. I design and create jewelry and small metal art objects in gold, silver and bronze and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones. I combine traditional lost wax casting, digital modeling, and precision 3D printing with traditional metal working and jewelry fabrication techniques. I am particularly interested in using lost wax casting to create jewelry and small architectural castings.
I learned the basics of lapidary and making cabochons from my grandfather and my father, and had the opportunity to learn lost wax casting in high school. I more recently participated in Metalsmithing and Jewelry classes at Arapahoe Community College from Amy Bailey, Kirsten Denbow, and Nathalia Guarascio and have had the good fortune to participate in COMA conferences since 2017.
I currently work full-time in the Spectrum Business group for Charter Communications in Greenwood Village, Colorado. I have been employed in various aspects of the telecommunications business since completing my Master's degree in 1982. I have only modest experience with non-profit work as a volunteer for a number of years with Boy Scouting and volunteer work with my church.
I have benefited from my participation in COMA conferences and the associated community of COMA and Arapahoe Community College jewelers, metalsmiths, instructors and fellow students and would like to help strengthen and grow that community.