Joe Reyes Apodaca

Joe Apodaca began making jewelry while still in high school. He remembers thinking “Gosh, this is exactly what I want to do. I want to spend my life doing this.” Lapidary Journal, November 1999 With his wife, Linda, a native Californian, Joe Apodaca has forged an influential career as a teacher and prolific studio jeweler based in the Pacific Northwest. He and Linda collaborate on jewelry and sculptures made of precious metals, steel, and concrete. Apodaca established the jewelry program at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, leading the students there in workshops until he was ready to devote himself full-time to his studio work.