Patania, Frank Jr.

"I am Frank Patania Jr. My father, Frank Sr. was a well-known and respected jewelry designer, silver and goldsmith.  He was born in Sicily in 1899 and died in 1964.  So I am a second-generation designer, silver and goldsmith. I was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1932. I grew up watching my dad at his workbench. I observed how he handled his tools, working and shaping the metal with deft movements of his hands.  Around the age of seven I started to learn how to handle the tools myself. I continued to develop my skills working alongside my father on weekends and summers. After graduating from the University of Arizona and serving in the military I returned to Tucson in 1956 to work full time in the family business.  I gradually developed my own design style, which was more contemporary than my father’s complex floral motifs. I describe my style as "architectural."  By the mid 1960s I was considered one of the influential young contemporary jewelers in the country. I was represented in many juried shows and I have two of my pieces in the permanent collection at the Renwick Gallery, fine arts arm of the Smithsonian. To expand my design and technical skills I began to accept commissions for liturgical pieces. These pieces represent my finest work and I would like to share them along with some of the jewelry I have designed and made." -Frank Patania Jr.
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The Patania Family Legacy

The Patania Family Legacy

Tucson Family Creates a Legacy of Jewelry as Wearable Art

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The Patania Family Legacy

The Patania Family Legacy

Tucson Family Creates a Legacy of Jewelry as Wearable Art

Read article
The Patania Family Legacy

The Patania Family Legacy

Tucson Family Creates a Legacy of Jewelry as Wearable Art

Read article
Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 1) - Epi. 107 Host Dr. Mark Sublette

Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 1) - Epi. 107 Host Dr. Mark Sublette

Part one focuses on Frank Sr and their time in Santa Fe. We talk about how Frank Sr. got into the jewelry business, the opening of the first Thunderbird Shop in 1927 in Santa Fe, the second shop in Tucson in 1937, and finally the historic figures orbiting both shops in the mid 20th century.

Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 2) - Epi. 108 Host Dr. Mark Sublette

Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 2) - Epi. 108 Host Dr. Mark Sublette

Part two focuses on Frank Patania Jr's own career and the process behind some of his most important works. We hear about Frank using styrofoam to cast a 9ft tall cross in aluminum and passing the literal and figurative torch to his son Sam the third generation Thunderbird silversmith. I wanted to explore Frank Patania Jr's career and life experiences in Santa Fe and Tucson and the influence he had on the Patania family legacy and what is considered now to be Southwest jewelry.