Radical Jewelry Makeover

Susan Beal, contributor

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Donate your old, unworn jewelry to the Radical Jewelry Makeover project.

Photo: Susan Beal

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I saw this posted on Ecofabulous and thought it looked fascinating:

As a result of gold mining that took place more than a century ago, the San Francisco Bay is lined by several feet of sediment from hydraulic mining and its waters are contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury. Today, mining is this nation's most toxic industry, according to the EPA. And Earthworks reports that an estimated 80 percent of the gold mined each year is used for jewelry, and a single gold ring leaves 20 tons of mine waste. Ethical Metalsmiths, an artist-run nonprofit organization, seeks to galvanize mining reform efforts by staging an "alternative supply chain" and is bringing its successful project, Radical Jewelry Makeover, to the San Francisco Bay Area in the fall.

This is your chance to dig through those old, tangled chains, gifts from old flings, and unmatched earrings and donate them to Radical Jewelry Makeover, a project of Ethical Metalsmiths. During September and October, jewelry artists from the Bay Area will transform your generous donations into new jewelry. Donors receive a discount coupon available and redeemable at the final exhibition for a new piece of "madeover" jewelry.

We are accepting donations for the San Francisco edition of Radical Jewelry Makeover RIGHT NOW through September 11. There are several drop-off sites throughout the Bay Area as well as one mail-in site (please see details below).

The exhibition of finished work will take place at Velvet da Vinici gallery from October 22–November 9.

Please donate! No other jewelry can be tracked to its origin as transparently as items from your own collection. Help us create a responsible jewelry movement.

Donation details:

Academy of Art University
410 Bush St., San Francisco, CA 94108
Contact: Charlene Modena - 415-618-3631

California College of Art, Oakland campus
5212 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618-1426
Contact: Curtis Arima - 510-205-5694

City College
Drop off: Art Office in the Visual Arts Building at City College of San Francisco, in between Batmale Hall and the Creative Arts Building on the loop
Contact: Art Department, Box V-28, 50 Phelan
Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112
Contact: Suzanne Pugh - 415-452-5782

The Crucible
1260 7th St., Oakland, CA 94607
Contacts: Aimee Golant and Rob Nehring - 510-444-0919

Revere Academy
760 Market St., Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94102
Contact: Christine Dhein - 415-391-4179

Richmond Art Center
Address: 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond, CA 94804
Ph: 510.620.6772; e-mail: admin@therac.org www.therac.org
Contacts: Alison Antleman - 510-704-1905
Kato Jaworski - 510-620-6773
Ed Lay – 510-367-3406

Scintillant Studio
1258 Valencia St., 2nd Fl., San Francisco, CA 94110
Contact: Adam Clark - 415-505-1623
Scintillant Studio Phone: 415-206-1359

Metal Arts Guild
Contact: Alison Antleman - 510-704-1905

Velvet da Vinci Gallery
2015 Polk St., San Francisco, CA 94109
Contact: Mike Holmes and Elizabeth Shypertt - 415-441-0109

Thanks to Feisty Elle and Ecofabulous for sharing the details of this project!

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Comments (2)

Ecometals writes: Dear Susan,

Thank you so much for adding the Radical Jewelry Makeover call for donations to this blog! And to answer the question above - you can donate anything that is jewelry. While precious metals are the easiest to upcycle, costume jewelry does lend itself to interesting re-design opportunities. And we appreciate that people give what they give.

Thanks!!

Christina Miller
Radical Jewelry Makeover co-designer and project director
Posted: 1:55 pm on September 9th

trusk4u writes: This is just a wonderful idea! Wish I had something to contribute. I am assuming you are looking for "real" stuff as opposed to plated and other base metal pieces.
Posted: 1:42 pm on September 9th

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