UW–Madison alumna Sue Moberly, who graduated from the School of Education’s Art Department in 1992, recently opened up a silversmithing studio in Madison following nearly 30 years as an elementary and high school art teacher. In August, Madison’s Capital Times newspaper spoke with her about her business, art, and passions.

Moberly retired from teaching metalwork and glass art at Madison West High School in 2022, and opened up her studio, Torn Edge Arts, shortly after. “I just crossed my fingers and dove in,” Moberly tells the Cap Times. “I think I did retirement wrong because now, rather than sitting on the couch, I’ve got a two-year lease and a second mortgage.”

Torn Edge Arts offers classes on jewelry making, metalsmithing, and more. Moberly also offers a studio membership that allows members to come in and use the space and materials to do their own work.

According to the Cap Times, “Moberly’s favorite classes are the ones where she teaches soldering, the skill that enamored her with metal arts more than 30 years ago. She was a University of Wisconsin–Madison art education student, and her professor, metalsmith Fred Fenster, was demonstrating how to heat and manipulate liquid metal. ‘It was beautiful and perfect, and I was just hooked,’ Moberly said. ‘It still thrills me.’”