sewing machine to the streets of San Francisco in his Free Mending
Library project since 2002. And since 2006, Frau Fiber (Carole
Lung) has been organizing fiber-based outreach events, such as
Sewing Rebellion, which promote garment construction skills.
Something was definitely in the air.
Encouraged, I began The Pro Bono Jeweler performances in
2008 with the slogan “If lawyers, why not jewelers?” I stressed the
dichotomy between jewelry as a signifier of status and jewelry as
universal form of personal expression. With this in mind, I teamed
with Quirk Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, who hosted me in con-
junction with their openings. Quirk was a logical choice because of
their vested interest in the accessibility of jewelry. In November
2008 they presented a Robert Ebendorf exhibition in which the ac-
claimed jeweler sold 200 pendants for just $50 each. In Quirk, I
found an institutional ally. “It was entertaining for both our patrons
and for passersby,” says Katie Ukrop, owner of the gallery. “For
each person to have a piece of jewelry that they saw being created—
or created themselves—acts as a constant reminder of the process
and the artist, and anything that creates enthusiasm about jewelry
is something we want to promote.”
The first Pro Bono Jeweler performance took a similar form and
had comparable goals to those of Collegiate Jeweler. It highlighted,
however, that even in proximity to a gallery, most people aren’t
familiar with how jewelry is made or its cultural implications. In the
most recent incarnation of Pro Bono Jeweler, I changed tack and
invited the audience to participate. “Would you like to make a piece
of archeologically inspired jewelry?” I asked. Providing polymer
clay and synthetic gemstones, I asked people to leaf through histori-
cal jewelry books for inspiration and to interpret a design. By en-
couraging participants to become aware of historical works and
familiar with handwork, I was able to instill in them a greater appre-
ciation of jewelry. Over 40 people of all ages from diverse back-
grounds took part. Some people came for the art opening, others
were just waiting for the bus; but in sharing the history and making
of jewelry, all were equal.
Over the past two years, watching people discover jewelry for
the first time has reminded me how exciting it was to first discover
the process of making something. The audience’s unwavering
enthusiasm keeps me going back to the street. For now, the perfor-
mances are ongoing, with the format ever evolving though the goal
will always be the same. As a self-appointed studio jewelry am-
bassador to the public-at-large, I want to do for jewelry what Bill
Cosby did for Jell-O—make it fun and appealing. Yet, finding and
reaching a wider audience is not so easy. When I talked to Lydia
Matthews, a New York-based cultural critic, last year, she con-
fided that she regards universal appeal as a modern myth, and I’m
inclined to agree. “The ‘wider audience’ is just a bunch of subcul-
tures and small collections of people brought together by a theme.”
This is where I am today, finding diverse subcultures and venues
that will let me institute my guerrilla jewelry indoctrination. I want
to take my studio practice to where it can make a difference-
outside the studio. +
Gimme More!
performingcraft.com
gabrielcraigmctalsmith.com
fraufiber.com
apr/may
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