Radical Jewelry Receives Makeover at Lighthouse ArtCenter

Don’t know what to do with your old, unwanted jewelry?

How about Radical Jewelry Makeover!

Lighthouse ArtCenter, Radical Jewelry Makeover, and Armory Art Center and Resource Depot are seeking donations of old unwanted jewelry for the community jewelry mining project happening in Tequesta, FL this coming winter 2020. Radical Jewelry Makeover has been traveling nationally and internationally to communities since 2007, educating jewelers of all levels about mining and material sourcing issues involved in jewelry making through a fun, fast-paced, 8-week long project. Jewelry students at the Lighthouse ArtCenter, Armory Art Center, Resource Depot and professional jewelers from the regional community will be transforming donations into radically fresh and responsible jewelry. The project will culminate in an exhibition of these wearable creations displayed at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery.

Those tangled chains, unmatched earrings and banged up bracelets sitting at the bottom of jewelry boxes around the South Florida area are exactly what jewelry artists participating in Radical Jewelry Makeover – South Florida want to get their creative hands-on. Until December 21st the non-profit, Ethical Metalsmiths and Lighthouse ArtCenter are accepting donations of old, unwanted jewelry at several Palm Beach County area locations (see complete list below). Donors will receive discount coupons to apply toward the purchase of a new piece and sales will benefit student scholarships and Ethical Metalsmiths' efforts to educate and connect people with responsibly sourced materials. RJM 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. In Tequesta, FL, RJM will bring 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. You can help by donating some of the smallest items in your home, jewelry, for reuse and recycling.

Did you know Titanium is mined in the State of Florida? Heavy minerals like Titanium have been mined in Florida since 1916. Titanium can be found in the sand of many of the beaches that line our State and is used for a variety of things from paint and makeup to helicopters and spacecraft. Today, the EPA estimates that hard rock mining is the most toxic industry in the United States. Additionally, Earthworks reports that an estimated 70% of the gold mined each year is used for jewelry, and that a single gold ring leaves more than 20 tons of mine waste. Ethical Metalsmiths, an artist-run non-profit organization seeks to galvanize mining reform efforts by staging an "alternative supply chain" and is working with the Lighthouse ArtCenter, Armory Art Center and Resource Depot to bring their successful project, Radical Jewelry Makeover to South Florida in the Winter/Spring season 2020.

HOW TO DONATE YOUR JEWELRY:
To donate jewelry of any quality, quantity or material type please download and submit the official project donation form. It is available for download or in print at the various donation drop-off locations. Considering giving gold or silver? Consider this, if you get your jewelry appraised prior to donating, RJM can honor your donation if given with an official appraisal document at its full value as a tax-deductible donation to Ethical Metalsmiths.

PROJECT TIMELINE:

Drop-off Donations will be accepted now through December 21 (a drop of locations listed below).

• Kick off Party/Symposium January 4, 2020, from 10a-2pm at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery
• Jewelry students and professionals will transform the donations between January 4-March 4, 2020
• The exhibition at the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery will take place on March 19-April 24, 2020.
  There will be an opening reception March 19, 2020.