Symposium: Friday, January 19, 10am–8pm, Cook Center in Maxwell Hall and the Fine Arts Building
Exhibition: January 19–March 2, 2024
Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12–4pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Reception: Friday, January 19, 6–8pm, Grunwald Gallery
The Grunwald Gallery presents "Radical Jewelry Makeover: Midwest Edition", an exhibition featuring responsibly sourced jewelry created by students from five different Midwest universities and colleges including Indiana University—Bloomington, Bowling Green State University, Ball State University, Earlham College, and Western Michigan University.
Metals and gemstones are often mined in some of the poorest countries in the world, on sacred lands, in disputed territories, and at great cost to human lives and the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that hard rock mining is the most toxic industry in the United States. Since 2007 Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM) has convened semester-long projects in communities around the country and across the world. By drawing attention to the creativity and skills of local jewelry designers and revealing the stories behind the personal collections, RJM seeks to encourage reconsideration of consumption habits, raise awareness of and transform the sourcing of materials used in jewelry production.
The Indiana University Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design has collaborated with the artist-run nonprofit Ethical Metalsmiths to stage Radical Jewelry Makeover Bloomington, a community jewelry mining project. The initiative has collected over 160 donations of unwanted jewelry from all over Indiana as well as Ohio and Kentucky.
With guidance and direction from Radical Jewelry Makeover, participants evaluated and sorted each of the donations, learning how to identify stones, test materials for purity and value, become educated on where mining practices are around the world, and how fast fashion contributes to polluting the environment and the draining of precious resources. Students and participants spent the fall semester transforming the materials into fresh, responsibly sourced jewelry.
The exhibition’s opening reception on January 19 will close out the Radical Jewelry Makeover: Midwest Edition Symposium, featuring presentations by six guest speakers, each illuminating different aspects of the topic from their unique perspectives of expertise and experience. Presenters include Susie Ganch, Kathleen Kennedy, Ryan Peterson, Christina Miller, Barbara Paris Gifford, as well as McKinney Visiting Artist Curtis Hidemasa Arima. Arima will give his McKinney Visiting Artist Lecture at Fine Arts 016 from 5–6:30pm. The symposium takes place on January 19 at the Cook Center and the Fine Arts Building.
