The Birth of Samonte Cruz Studios

Samonte Cruz Studios was born from a profound journey of healing and reconnection. While recovery from a traumatic spinal injury, Samonte Cruz found solace and purpose in the art of goldsmithing. What began as vocational rehabilitation grew into a passionate creative pursuit, deeply rooted in Filipinx heritage. Working with gold—a symbol of spiritual importance and cultural pride—became Samonte’s true calling. Samonte Cruz Studios honors both their personal journey and their ancestral heritage, creating timeless, meaningful art for those who value fine craftsmanship, identity, and storytelling.

EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF METALSMITHING

Samonte Cruz Studios offers engaging jewelry-making classes and personalized mentorship for aspiring metalsmiths; discover more HERE.

Samonte’s Journey to Becoming a Filipinx Goldsmith

Celebrating Ten Years of Craft and Innovation at Samonte Cruz Studios

In 2025, Samonte will celebrate a decade of honing their craft. Their journey in metalsmithing began in 2015 at the Kootenay School of Arts, Selkirk College in Sinixt Territory (Nelson, BC), where they graduated with honors in 2017. Shortly after, they founded Samonte Cruz Studios, specializing in making custom wedding and engagement rings. In 2018, they began teaching beginner jewelry-making courses at Selkirk College and apprenticed under master goldsmith Paul Durkin at Lauener Brothers Jewellery in Trail, BC, training until 2022.

In 2023, a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts allowed Samonte to research the history of goldsmithing in the Philippines. This inspired them to handcraft a 22-karat gold traditional funerary mask, which won Juror’s Choice at NYC Jewelry Week’s Adorned Serenity exhibition. In the fall of 2024, Samonte opened a new studio in Ymir, BC, where they continue to offer beginner jewelry-making classes, inspiring new artisans through their deep expertise and dedication to the field.

Thanks to Producer Amy Mahardy and the Creative Services team at CW11 in Seattle for helping to tell my story.

Samonte was awarded Juror’s Choice for their work featured at the 2023 NYC Jewelry Week Exhibition: Adorned Serenity. Eternal Safe Space: Transcestors Funerary Mask; 22 karat gold, hand-formed, folded & cut; 2023. Read more about the piece here.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Samonte Cruz is a mixed-gender, mixed-race, Filipinx goldsmith, performer and educator, currently living on unceded Sinixt Territory (Nelson, BC). Born the youngest child of a Filipino immigrant and Virginian farm girl, Samonte spent the first six years of their life living in a racially charged, southern US, before relocating to a small town just outside of Seattle, Washington. Even from a young age, Samonte was drawn to the creative arts; spending any spare moment singing, drawing, writing, or making crafts. Thankfully, creativity is a common thread that runs through every chapter of their life.

In 2003, Samonte graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts from Western Washington University. Samonte’s interdisciplinary degree combined music, audio engineering, psychology and minority studies; exploring the importance of creative expression as a tool for survival and resistance, particularly for members of marginalized communities.  This laid the foundation for Samonte to continue their creative work as a community educator & organizer, through organizations in the Greater Vancouver Area like, VIVO Media Arts Centre, Access to Media Education Society, and the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, at the Kalayaan Centre. In 2006, Samonte was hired as the permanent coordinator for Simon Fraser University’s LGBTQ+ Centre, where they served the queer and trans/gender non-conforming community for nearly a decade.

After a serious spinal injury in 2010, Samonte’s abilities suddenly and drastically changed. In response to living with chronic pain, Samonte began to seek out more accommodating opportunities for creative expression, and in 2015, enrolled in the Kootenay Studio Arts Jewelry program where a culture of adaptation and innovation allowed Samonte to develop as a metalsmith, despite physical limitations.

After graduating with honours in 2017, Samonte founded their own business, Samonte Cruz Studios, and is excited to be offering custom, one-of-a-kind jewelry and accessories to clients, while running their own online shop. In 2018, Samonte was hired as an apprentice to award-winning, master goldsmith, Paul Durkin, co-owner of Lauener Brother Jewellery, in Trail, BC, where they continue to hone their craft repairing & restoring mostly heirloom gold jewelry. In order to share their passion for metalsmithing with others, Samonte teaches community education courses in the jewelry studio at Kootenay Studio Arts, Selkirk College. 

In addition to their own artistic practice, Samonte is the founder, director & curator of Bent On Art: Kootenay Queer & Trans Art Festival, promoting LGBTQ+ artists in the Kootenays while creating educational opportunities, fostering community connection and promoting resilience through the arts. In 2021, Samonte became a board member for Oxygen Arts Centre in Nelson, BC, where they continue to serve. 

In October 2022, Samonte was awarded a grant from Canada Council of the Arts to develop a narrative body of work that explores their Filipino heritage. The project titled, Filipinx Survivance:  Contemporary Cultural Artifacts & Adornment, weaves together threads of their ancestral history with their own personal story, in an attempt to tell the story of Filipinx survivance (survival & resistance) from colonization.

In their spare time, Samonte writes, records, and performs music; most recently featured as the lead artist, composer & performer in, “Purple Pain,” a virtual performance for Nelson & District Arts Council’s, “Outside the Box,” online showcase released in January 2022. When they aren’t creating in their studio, you can find Samonte at home washing dishes to podcasts, playing pop covers on their acoustic guitar, or at the dog park, hanging with their furry dog-kid, Bruno.