John M. Rogers Jr.

John Rogers was born in Connecticut and attended the Norwich Free Academy in his teenage years, which led to a year of studying at the Norwich Art School. Obviously interested in art, Rogers chose metals as his medium, specifically the creation of jewelry. He then attended the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, receiving both an Associate’s degree and a B.F.A. After finishing his degrees Rogers turned to teaching, beginning at the Worcester Craft Center in Worcester, MA. He then came to Iowa State University where he taught metals and jewelry design from 1965 to 1973. Rogers was part of a growing group of designer, teachers, and artists who taught the visual and plastic arts without their own department, as part of the Home Economics department. It wouldn’t be until after Rogers left the University that the call for a separate College of Design would finally be answered. Rogers found that the overly academic life did not suit his work. He moved to Texas, first to San Antonio where he taught at the Southwest Craft Center and then settled in Bandera, Texas, where he has lived and worked since. Rogers set up his own studio and company, with only him as the employee, and produced limited run designs for jewelry that he then sold wholesale. Throughout his career he has continued to teach, something that he has always enjoyed as much as creating his own beautiful jewelry. While Rogers no longer makes jewelry he continues to teach once a week in his studio, including a few students who have been with him since he first came to Texas, a sign of his enduring skill as a teacher and jeweler.