ABOUT THE PRODUCERS
CRAFT PHILA founders and producers are artists Leslie Manas and Jean Huffenus, metalsmith-bijoutier. Together as Jean Designs Studio on Jewelers Row since 1985, their fine jewelry collections are made in gold and sterling silver. They specialize in handcrafted scent, picture, and memorial lockets, and limited edition jewels set with Cylettes®. Their symbolic-motif designs include Mère et Enfant, Om Adornment, and Jean’s signature Chai-Heart® design that traveled to space aboard the Shuttle Endeavour.
The husband and wife team (who met in a mirror’s reflection) have been pro bono mentors to aspiring metalsmiths from the University of the Arts since founding their workshop. The collaborating duo are longtime craft show exhibitors who have shown their jewelry at hundreds of arts events nationwide, including Philadelphia Museum of Art, American Craft Council, and American Made Shows.
Jean is an award-winning master jeweler who trained at the Ecole du Louvre, Paris. He perfected his craft in Paris, fabricating opulent commissioned pieces; and in Geneva, where he engineered bracelet prototypes for the Swiss watch industry.
Philadelphia native Leslie is CRAFT’s driving force and the creator of its concept and mascot that ties the show to the nearby Tiffany mosaic, housed at 6th and Walnut Streets, which recalls the beginning of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. In addition to being an arts entrepreneur, graphics and jewelry designer, the former educator and Francophile is the author of the illustrated and celebrity-acclaimed book Yiddish for Everyone.
The green-thumb couple lives in a garden home near Navel Square.
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