From Trash to Treasure:
Radical Jewelry Makeover Combines Creativity and Sustainability
HANOVER, NH—Wondering what to do with the tangled chains, broken brooches, mateless earrings and other items cluttering your jewelry box? Give them to Radical Jewelry Makeover, a project that reuses junk jewelry, promotes sustainable mining practices, and invites members of the public to try jewelry making.
The first project of the Hop’s new Community Venture Initiative (CVI), which engages the community in firsthand artistic endeavors, Radical Jewelry Makeover asks the public to donate jewelry-box clutter. Community members and skilled professionals will turn donations into wearable creations that will be part of a free exhibition and series of activities promoting sustainable gem- and metal-mining.
The project is a fitting launch for CVI, said Jeff James, Howard Gilman Director of the Hopkins Center. “I’m delighted that, thanks to important support from members of our community, we are launching this ambitious undertaking,” he said of CVI. “In coming years we look forward to testing many new ideas that will make the arts and the Hopkins Center more accessible to people in the Upper Valley. We’re hoping Radical Jewelry Makeover will kick things off with the right combination of broad involvement and homegrown creativity.”
Here’s how members of the general public can participate in Radical Jewelry Makeover:
DONATE: From December 13 through February 28, print out a donation form from hop.dartmouth.edu/online/communityventure and bring it and your cast-off jewelry to the Hopkins Center Box Office; Revolution apparel store, White River Junction, VT; or the Lebanon, West Lebanon, and Hanover branches of Mascoma Savings Bank (see website for details). You can also mail the form and your donation to: Hopkins Center Outreach, 6041 Lower Level Wilson Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH 03755. All jewelry is welcome, from broken or mismatched pieces and costume jewelry to items made of precious metals and stones. Donors will receive discount coupons to apply toward the purchase of pieces in the final exhibition.
CREATE: Sign up for one of the free workshops being offered on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, in the Hop’s Donald Claflin Jewelry Studio. All levels of expertise and anyone from age 8 and up are welcome. Teachers will be on hand to help workshop participants make particular projects. Registration will begin March 5; information on how to register will be published at hop.dartmouth.edu/online/communityventure.
CELEBRATE: Take part in a day devoted to sustainable jewelry-making, on Monday, May 12, at the Hop—including a gala exhibition of the radically made-over creations, which will be available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds supporting Ethical Metalsmiths, a nonprofit promoting sustainable mining practices. The day also includes a panel discussion and artist talks by Christina Miller, director of Ethical Metalsmiths; Susie Ganch, director of Radical Jewelry Makeover; and experts from Dartmouth and the Upper Valley. Madeover jewelry will be on exhibit at the Hopkins Center from May 12-June 15.
Radical Jewelry Makeover is the debut project of the Hop’s new Community Venture Initiative (CVI), which aims to increase the Upper Valley community’s engagement and access to Hop programming. CVI builds on the Hop’s commitment, over its 50-year history, to community-oriented programs involving a strong network of local organizational partners, as well as ideas generated by the Hop’s Class Divide Project, a three-year initiative that examined socio-economic class via the arts.
Soon after the Class Divide Project, a pilot program expanding current programs (supported by a grant from the Jane B. Cook 1992 Charitable Trust) showed promising possibilities for potential areas for growth. This prompted the development of a Community Venture Initiative to, over three years, test new ideas for expanding community access to Hop programming and implement the most promising ones on a long-term basis. The project is funded by a challenge grant from Jane’s Trust, with major matching gifts from Jane and Peter McLaughlin, The Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, the Neda Nobari Foundation, Nini and Rob Meyer, Jenny and Stan Williams and Norwich Partners.
Radical Jewelry Makeover is one of CVI’s two introductory, public art projects that broadly involve the community. The second pilot, “Bash the Trash,” is being planned for this spring. This project will engage people in towns throughout the Upper Valley to create and perform on instruments made from materials brought to town recycling centers.
The Hop’s Radical Jewelry Makeover is one of many that Ethical Metalsmiths has held in communities in the US and beyond since 2007, educating jewelers of all levels about mining and material sourcing issues involved in jewelry making through a fun, fast paced way. RJM draws attention to the creativity and skills of the local community and its jewelry designers, reveals the stories behind our personal collections and encourages re-consideration of our habits of consumption.
More about metalsmithing’s environmental impact
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 calls itself “community jewelry mining,” offering an informed and creative alternative to traditional mining practices and jewelry production.
Today, the EPA estimates that hard rock mining is the most toxic industry in the United States. Additionally, the environmental advocacy group Earthworks reports that an estimated 80% of the gold mined each year is used for jewelry, and that a single gold ring leaves 20 tons of mine waste.
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Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help Dartmouth and the surrounding Upper Valley community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each year the Hop presents more than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with outreach and arts education programs. After a celebratory 50th-anniversary season in 2012-13, the Hop enters its second half-century with renewed passion for mentoring young artists, supporting the development of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts.
CONTACT:
Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer
Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College
603.646.3991