What you’ll learn in this episode:   How art history and jewelry history interact How Jan’s experience as a historian helped her write her first book, and what she learned from self-publishing Why sweetheart jewelry became popular during World War II, and why few people today know what it is How Jan draws on her theater background to connect with and educate museum goers How museum education and jewelry history developed into their own fields   About Jan Krulick-Belin   Jan Krulick-Belin, a museum and art consultant and art and jewelry historian, has more than forty years of experience at such institutions as the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Denver Art Museum, Beaumont (Texas) Art Museum, and Smithsonian Institution. Retired as director of education at the Phoenix Art Museum, she still works with museums, art organizations, and private collectors and served as guest curator at the Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum, Phoenix.   Additional Resources  Facebook: www.facebook.com/JanKrulick Website: www.jankrulick.com Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/jankrulickbelin Twitter: @JanKrulickBooks   Photos Available on TheJewelryJourney.com    Transcript As an art and jewelry historian and museum educator, Jan Krulick-Belin was uniquely qualified to follow the surprising journey she went on to write her first book, “Love, Bill: Finding my Father Through Letters from World War II.” Bringing together her knowledge of World War II-era culture and  her research skills, writing the book was a labor of love. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about her tips for self-publishing; what sweetheart jewelry is and why it became so popular during World War II; and what it was like to be at the forefront of the museum education field. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week.    One of the eternal questions is whether one has to be a jewelry historian to appreciate the background of jewelry. Do you have to be a jeweler to appreciate jewelry? My guest, Jan Krulick-Belin, can answer all our questions. She is an independent museum educator and a jewelry historian. She is also the author of a book called “Love, Bill: Finding my Father Through Letters from World War II.” She most likely would not have been able to diligently research or write the book without being a historian. Being a historian was important to her becoming a museum educator, jewelry historian and an author. She’ll weave the pieces for us together in today’s jewelry journey. Jan, welcome to the podcast.   Jan: Thanks, Sharon. It’s great to be with you again.   Sharon: I’m glad you could make it this time. I know you’ve been traveling all over the world. Every year, you go somewhere exotic and wonderful.   Jan: We try.   Sharon: I know you came back from the Netherlands for the Vermeer exhibit.   Jan: The Johannes Vermeer exhibition, which was a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit that was amazing to have been able to bring together. I think it was 28 of the 36 or 37 known or attributed works by Johannes Vermeer. There will never be anything like it again, so I was happy to go. I’m also very fascinated by Dutch painting and have actually lectured on jewelry in Dutch paintings.   Sharon: Were you able to learn anything this time around?   Jan: I had the opportunity, as I said, to see a lot of his paintings together in one place, side by side, and I had the luxury to really look at them longer than most other opportunities. I think the way they did the exhibition, they encouraged looking. There was no audio guide. You weren’t allowed to go through on a tour. There was very little labeling. It was all about looking carefully. To me, looking is part of learning.   Sharon: As a jewelry historian and an art histor