Reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s a mantra we’ve all heard so many times that it’s been reduced to a bit of white noise amid loudening concerns about the environment, climate disasters, supply chains, ethical consumption, the list goes on. Still, the three Rs are a good practice to keep, most would agree, but it’s hardly enough to feel special or creative. But the practice of repurposing has gotten a bit of a new shine thanks to a project that’s been around for the past 15 or so years that reuses and recycles donated jewelry into something beautiful. And now, that project is coming to Memphis’ Metal Museum in the form of an exhibition: “Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project.”
“Ethical Metalsmiths is a group of artists and they started this project called Radical Jewelry Makeover,” explains Laura Hutchison Bhatti, director of collections and exhibitions at the museum. “Their focus is sustainability in the jewelry industry. So it’s a lot about putting focus on things like over-mining and all the discarded stuff that people just get rid of, and they take these crazy pieces, they send artists bags and bags of this discarded jewelry that’s really set to go to, like, Goodwill or just sits in jewelry boxes, but instead, the artists make these beautiful pieces out of them.”
For the exhibition, the Metal Museum will have over 70 works on display by over 25 artists, all invoking their own styles. Some use costume jewelry; others use precious heirlooms. “There’s a lot of play with the unexpected and with elevating low-quality jewelry pieces to a high-end market,” says Alicia George, special projects advisor, who curated this exhibit. “And then also melting down heirloom jewelry pieces and repurposing them into more artful modern jewelry, so there’s a constant flux between expectation and what you actually see.”
“They all tell a story,” adds Bhatti. “And with metalwork, there’s always an element of metal being repurposed or melted down or refabricated into something new, but the story of these pieces is much more tangible because you can see the remnants of what it used to be.”
The exhibition space itself is set up to look like a jewelry box, George says, with red and purple velvet panels and velvet-lined display cases. To boost the museum’s own sustainability efforts, the velvet is mostly recycled. Plus, the drapes that also decorate the space are on loan from Opera Memphis, and all the label information for the pieces is printed on recycled paper. “We’re trying to be a part of the movement and maintain the idea behind the Radical Jewelry Makeover,” George says.
The exhibition is on display through April 14th. Radical Jewelry Makeover co-directors, Susie Ganch and Kathleen Kennedy, will join the Metal Museum for the opening reception and artist talk on February 11th. RSVP to attend at metalmuseum.org.
To coincide with the exhibition’s run, the Metal Museum will also offer two classes (February 10th and March 16th) for those who want to create a one-of-a-kind piece of their own. Students will be able to bring their old jewelry or use provided pieces, and then will learn how to take apart old jewelry and repurpose it into new jewelry using rivets, glue, and wire. Register for a class at metalmuseum.org.
“Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project” Reception & Artist Talk, Metal Museum, 373 Metal Museum Drive, Sunday, February 11, 3-5 p.m.