Radical Jewelry Makeover Artist Project

Radical Jewelry Makeover Artist Project draws attention to the creativity and skills of local jewelry designers, reveals the stories behind our personal collections and encourages re-consideration of our habits of consumption. Currently, materials used in jewelry production are sourced from some of the poorest countries in the world, sacred lands and disputed territories. Often this sourcing comes at a great cost to the environment. RJM brings together volunteer “miners,” who dig out and donate their old jewelry, with volunteer jewelers and students, working together as refiners and designers to collaborate on an exhibition of re-made jewelry. Radical Jewelry Makeover will offer an informed and creative alternative to traditional mining practices and jewelry production. A small group of artists from across the country who previously collaborated with Radical Jewelry Makeover were invited to dive more deeply into the motivations and questions of the project. As past participants, with prior exposure to the values of RJM, they were asked to create a series of work using donated jewelry leftover from all previous donation drives. This work comprises the RJM Artist Project exhibition.