Looking for something to do with that lone earring, those tangled chains, and the banged up bracelets sitting at the bottom of your jewelry boxes? Donate them to the Radical Jewelry Makeover at VisArts! Until Valentine’s Day, February 14, the nonprofit Ethical Metalsmiths, VCU, and VisArts are accepting donations of old, unwanted jewelry. These donations will be remade into jewelry for our April gallery exhibition, and donors will receive discount coupons to apply toward purchasing a new piece of jewelry from the exhibition. All sales will benefit VisArts and Ethical Metalsmiths’ efforts to educate and connect people with responsibly sourced materials.
Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM) has traveled nationally and internationally to communities since 2007 to educate jewelers of all levels about mining and material-sourcing issues involved in jewelry making through a fun, fast-paced community project. Jewelry students at VCU and VisArts, along with professional jewelers from the regional community, will transform donations into radically fresh and responsibly made jewelry. The project will culminate in an exhibition of wearable creations displayed at VisArts opening on April 4.
This Sunday, Feb. 16 you can meet the local artists who are creating work for the exhibition and hear Susie Ganch, Ganch, Director of the Radical Jewelry Makeover, talk about the upcoming RJM project. The event runs from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at VisArts. Ganch will speak at 2 p.m.
Susie Ganch’s exhibition, TIED, opens April 4 and will feature the Radical Jewelry Makeover. The exhibition will run through June in VisArts’ True F. Luck Gallery. Learn more on our exhibitions page or at radicaljewelrymakeover.org. Also, be sure to read Style Weekly’s story Forging it Forward and the Richmond Times-Dispatch story on Susie Ganch.