“Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM) is a collaborative “mining” project that will debut in Richmond, VA and brings together the community, Quirk Gallery and jewelry and metalsmithing students from Virginia Commonwealth University and Millersville University (PA) to transform unwanted jewelry into exciting new work.”

The exhibition in Richmond will run from March 2 - 31, 2007 at Quirk Gallery.

As a participant in this pilot program, I dissembled and redesigned, several pieces of used/unwanted jewelry that had been donated by members of the community. The creative labors of VCU and Millersville students culminated in a very successful exhibition held at Quirk Gallery in Richmond, VA. A large portion of the work was sold and 70% of the profits raised were donated to Ethical Metalsmiths, an environmentally and ethically conscious organization dedicated to stimulating demand for responsibly sourced materials as an investment in the future.

Here are some interesting facts that I’ve extracted from the Ethical Metalsmiths website:

“Metal mining is the most toxic polluter in the United States. It is responsible for 96 percent of arsenic emissions and 76 percent of lead emissions.

Each year in the United States, mines generate an amount of waste equivalent in weight to nearly nine times the trash produced by all its cities and towns combined.

A single gold ring leaves in its wake at least 20 tons of mine waste.”

For more information, visit: www.ethicalmetalsmiths.org