The NICHE Award was presented to artists in 34 professional categories and 14 student categories in a ceremony held Feb. 15 during the Buyers Market of American Craft at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Sponsored by NICHE magazine, the exclusive trade publication for progressive retailers of American craft, the NICHE Awards program recognizes excellence and innovation in the American and Canadian craft industry.
 
Professional and student craft artists from across the U.S. and Canada submitted nearly 2,000 entries for the 2009 competition. In November 2008, NICHE magazine announced the 149 professional finalists and 69 student finalists who were invited to display their work in the NICHE Awards exhibit at the Philadelphia Buyers Market, held Feb. 13-16.
 
Entries were judged on the following main criteria:
• Technical excellence, both in surface design and form
•  A distinct quality of unique, original and creative thought
•  Market viability (professional entries only)

The winners in the jewelry categories are as follows:

Fashion
Ruffle Earrings
Lindly Haunani
Cabin John, Md.
 

Gold
Octopus Jellyfish Pin
Amy Roper Lyons
Summit, N.J.
 

Gold with Stones
Meisterstück Armband
Charles “Fritz“ Pearce
Fritz & Mischell / 3 Arts Studio
Sonoma, Calif.
 

Sculpture to Wear
Untitled
Borislav Goynatsky
Mesh NY
New York, N.Y.
 

Silver
Collar of the Chancellor
Tom Ferrero
Windsor, Conn.
 

Silver with Stones
Mooncheese
Erik Stewart
Erik Stewart Jewelry
Tuscson, Ariz.

Fashion
Blue Scent
Minjeong Kim
Fashion Institute of Technology
 
Jewelry: Fine (Tie)
Geometry from Nature 2
Jung Eun Chang
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
 
Millennial Generation
Baiyang Qiu
Savannah College of Art and Design

A full lists of finalists, with photos, is available at www.AmericanCraft.com. Winners will also be posted online and featured in the Spring 2009 issue of NICHE magazine.
 
Application information for the 2010 NICHE Awards will be available in the spring at www.AmericanCraft.com.

JCK