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By Katie Langford 

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Ridgway artist Lisa Issenberg creates and designs awards for a variety of organizations around the world. The name of her business, Kiitellä, is based on the Finnish word meaning “to thank, applaud or praise.” Photo courtesy Lisa Issenberg

Lisa Issenberg is in the business of taking a significant moment in a person’s life and crafting it into a memory they can hold in their hands.

Out of her Ridgway workshop on Clinton Street, Issenberg designs and creates awards for organizations across the world, including the X Games, The North Face and the Audi FIS Ski World Cup.

But Issenberg’s love for metalworking wasn’t sparked until the tail end of her college years, when she came across a metalworker on a study abroad semester in Greece.

While she loved the arts and working with her hands, until that point she was afraid to focus on art because it didn’t seem like a realistic career.

“It was one of those moments where I was completely moved, and as soon as I got back to the states I took up metalwork,” she said. “It was really the first thing I could lose myself in, and that started off the trajectory of working in metals.”

Issenberg moved to Telluride after college, working as a ski instructor and setting up metalworking studios wherever she could find the space, whether in garages or her bedroom. She moved several times between California, New York and Ophir before finally settling in Ophir for good in 2001 and then in Ridgway in 2006.

Issenberg’s work ranged from designing jewelry to bear-proof trash cans, but she was still struggling to pay the bills until she sat down with a group of friends about 10 years ago to figure out a different plan.

“They asked me, ‘What do you love doing?’ And I said out of everything I’m doing, I love awards the most because you’re working with businesses who have a clear idea of what they need,” she said.

And so her business, Kiitellä, was born, based on the Finnish word meaning “to thank, applaud or praise.”

Issenberg said she’s long been inspired by Nordic design, including the emphasis on minimalism and appreciation for natural resources. She also draws inspiration from the German artistic movement Bauhaus as well as reusing or upcycling materials.

While award-making is a niche business, Issenberg said she has plenty of creative freedom in every project.

“A business is putting their faith in me to recognize their honorees in style, to represent their brand and to create something that is going to be cherished and appreciated by the recipient,” she said. “It’s a lot of good vibes and I have full artistic license, and I love the challenge.”

People sometimes ask her if she’s drawn to doing sculpture instead, but her answer is always no.

“I’ve really fallen in love with working with people and organizations. It opened up my world and my mind, working with so many organizations I didn’t know existed. It’s also wonderful to have a set of guidelines of what the award needs to represent and say, and the challenge is really perfect and right where I want it to be,” she said.

Issenberg said it’s hard to choose a favorite project, but she is excited about her upcoming work, including designing awards for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon and an award for Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin commissioned by the town of Avon.

Most of Issenberg’s work can be seen at kiitella.com.