about

Lisa Monahan is a metalsmith and has been designing jewelry and sculptural metal works for the past 18 years. Her work is modern and is highly influenced by her 20+ year career as an architect. Lisa will consider working with almost anything; her art gives new life to ordinary, industrial and vintage materials. She typically works with silver, gold, gold vermeil, oxidized silver, copper, brass, precious and semi-precious stones and pearls. Lisa's work is available in select galleries and museum shops. Lisa has studied metalsmithing coursework privately, at the DeCordova Museum School, Metalwerx in Boston and in various workshops.

Lisa is the designer/inventor of The Switch Gear™ Jewelry system, a patent pending, interchangeable jewelry wardrobe in a small travel case. Each Switch Gear™ set makes 100s of earring combinations and is unique in design-it-yourself jewelry concepts. The Switch Gear Jewelry Sets have been featured twice on Daily Grommet, an award winning website that seeks out smart, economical and innovative new products. As well, a portion of the proceeds from every Switch Gear™ kit sold supports survivors of domestic violence. Since 2007, Lisa has helped raise more than $5,000 for The Second Step, Inc., www.thesecondstep.org through Switch Gear™ and her Switching Gears charitable fund raisers.

Lisa's work has been featured in the Boston Globe, the Globe's Sidekick and the Middlesex Beat. Lisa's work has been included in DeCordova Museum School Gallery exhibits, was featured in a solo show in the Store @ the DeCordova, and various galleries and shops including the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Lisa studied art and architecture in Boston, Arizona and London and practiced architecture in Boston until 2003. She has been involved in local area art and architectural initiatives for many years. In her career, Lisa has been part of award winning design teams in architectural practice and an invited guest speaker in various institutional venues. She taught architectural design studio courses and design inspiration courses for many years in Boston. Lisa is a long term Board Member for the New Art Center in Newton, MA, where she lives with her husband and 2 sons.