brooch made from gold, sterling silver, turquoise

Imogene Tex Gieling

San Francisco, CA
MAG Founder

Imogene “Tex” Gieling was a pioneer in the metal arts in the Bay area—an artist, educator, visionary, and philanthropist. During her career, which spanned decades, she influenced a generation of teachers in the field while continuing her own work in metals. Dedicated to the metals field in the Bay Area, she was a founder of MAG, and of the metals departments at the University of California Berkeley and San Francisco State University. To the Oakland Museum of California she endowed the Imogene Gieling Curator of Crafts and Decorative Arts position (held by Julie Muniz). Her jewelry has been widely exhibited in the United States and abroad, and she has completed numerous public and private commissions including one for the San Francisco Arts Commission. In 2003 she received the Honorary Member Award from the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) in recognition of a lifetime of achievements in the metal arts field.