May 4, 2020
Academy Board member + Academy artists in Galerie Magazine
Office Hours: Jeweler and Artemest Founder Ippolita Rostagno’s Home Work Space
The loftlike top floor of a 19th-century Brooklyn brownstone provides the perfect setting for creative multitasking
by JACQUELINE TERREBONNE
APRIL 15, 2020
Jeweler and Artemest founder Ippolita Rostagno.
Photo: Courtesy of Ippolita Rostagno
When renovating her 19th-century Brooklyn townhouse from the ground up a little over five years ago, Ippolita Rostagno didn’t prioritize a home studio. The jewelry designer and founder of Italian artisan retail website Artemest knew she needed a place to think and create away from the workshop. No stranger to the Park Slope, she’s spent the last 20 years on the same block and reflects that right now her street is as quiet as she remembers when she first moved there. It’s provided the perfect atmosphere for focusing on new designs for her innovative jewelry and helping artisans in Artemest navigate the shutdown in Italy. Her respect and passion for artisans and their craft are a thread through both of her interests.
“I have two or three jewelry projects going on and work on Artemest here as well,” explains Rostagno, who grew up in Florence. “I divide my team about 50-50, but I was just on the phone with Italy. Things are picking up there. Some artisans have continued to work, because they live and work in the same place.”
Here, she shares some of the incredible details that keep her creative while she works from home.