Biography

Tom Ferrero was raised in Windsor, Connecticut and first discovered his love for metal working as a high school student. He continued on to college and became a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. There he majored in Metal sculpture and jewelry design, studying under Professors Leonard Urso, Mark Stanitz, & Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez, and received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in May 2002.

He has worked for such artists and companies as the Barbara Heinrich Studio and New England Sterling. At the Barbara Heinrich Studio he held the position of Goldsmith and fabricated high-end 18k and 22k diamond earrings and necklaces. At New England Sterling he was the Assistant to the Head Silversmith and worked on pieces designed for Tiffany & Co.

In September 2002 Tom Ferrero returned to RIT to take an Artist in Residence position where he had the opportunity to help teach a jewelry course. In 2003-2004 Ferrero was awarded an United States Fulbright Grant to New Zealand where he lived and worked in the Auckland area and attended the University of Auckland at Manukau Institute of Technology. At MIT he studied the artwork of the Maori and other Pacific Island people as well as doing research on New Zealand's landscape and natural environment. After completion of his Post Graduate Diploma in jewelry design Tom Ferrero returned home to the United States and ultimately on to graduate school.

In 2008 Ferrero graduated from Indiana University with his Masters of Fine Arts Degree. It was there that he studied under professor Randy Long and Dr. Nicole Jacquard. While attending IU he also completed all the course work in the K-12, Art Education, Teacher Certification program and now has his professional certification to teach fine art in the state of Maine.

In January 2009 Ferrero accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Jewelry and Metalsmithing at NSCAD University in Halifax, Canada, where he taught courses for 6 years in Beginner and Advanced Holloware, Second Year Jewelry, Senior Studio, Intermediate Jewelry: Casting & Mold Making, Steel Techniques for Jewelers, and Stone Settings & Mechanisms. Also, in the same year he was awarded two separate 1st Place NICHE Awards at the professional level in both Silver Jewelry and Metal Sculpture. Furthermore, Ferrero is the winner of the 2012 and 2016 Saul Bell Design Award in Holloware and has work in the private collection of the Kamm Teapot Foundation in California.

Tom Ferrero is a Maine Master Craft Artist as awarded by the Maine Craft Association. He has exhibited work in many galleries throughout the United States as well as internationally in South Korea, New Zealand and Canada. Ferrero's work has been included in variety of books which can be found in many fine book stores around the country.

Currently, Ferrero is a part time Instructor at Maranacook Community High School where he teaches a selection of classes in Drawing, Painting, Darkroom Photography, Sculpture and Metalworking. Additionally, he is an occasional Lecturer at the University of Maine - Augusta offering courses in 3-Dimensional Design.

In the summers, Ferrero serves as the Department Head of Metalsmithing at Camp Laurel in Readfield, Maine. There he develops and manages the Metalsmithing program and instructs classes in jewelry making to children and young adults.

Ferrero continues to produce unique and innovative painting and metalwork, at the same time, entertaining his love of the outdoors and his passion for teaching the arts.