'It lives another life': MSU students, professor take part in jewelry recycling project

Old, unwanted and discarded jewelry may soon find a new life as part of a community project through Missouri State University.

The Radical Jewelry Makeover, which started in 2007, is calling for donations of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and more as part of a community jewelry mining project starting this fall.

Students and Missouri State and local jewelers will work together to recycle and transform the donations into fresh and responsible pieces as part of the project, which is a collaboration with the University of Kansas.

Missouri State's Jin A. Seo, an associate professor of 3D Studies, which includes metal and jewelry, has participated in the Radical Jewelry Makeover in the past as an artist. This is her first time as a project organizer.

She said it started with jewelry artists questioning the environmental impact of the "fast fashion industry" and looking at ways to explore recycling.

"They wanted to make an event where the community donates unwanted jewelry and then participating artists recreate new forms of jewelry to promote material recycling and question what is important in the field," Seo said.

This will be an interesting experience for students, Seo said.

"In class, a lot of coursework is focused on learning techniques and expressing their own ideas," she said.

"But, when you think about the jewelry industry ... I want them to think about where the materials are coming from, how they're sourced, how they're imported, who is mining the materials and how we can make those processes as ethical as possible."

Seo said she hopes students emerge from the project with a sense of how they can be resourceful while maintaining creativity.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hard rock mining is the most toxic industry in the country and produces significant waste.

Ethical Metalsmiths, an artist-run non-profit, is working to reform mining practices and partnered with Missouri State to bring Radical Jewelry Makeover to Springfield.

Seo said community involvement is critical to the project because donations of tangled chains, mismatched earrings and banged-up bracelets are needed.

"With the project, I see the community start to think about where all these materials are from and the waste that is created," she said.

"They get excited about the donated items turned into something else. They could have just been waste forgotten in their drawers. It lives another life."

The project will culminate in two traveling exhibitions of the wearable creations:

• Jan. 27-Feb.21 − The Carolla Arts Exhibition Center near Brick City in Springfield; and

• Jan. 21-31 − Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery in Chalmers Hall at KU.

In addition to the hands-on work, there will be public lectures throughout the project open to anyone interested in learning about responsible jewelry practices, material sourcing, and the creative process.

Through Sept. 16, Ethical Metalsmiths, along with MSU’s Metal and Jewelry area, will be accepting donations of old, unwanted jewelry at the Brick City Art and Design Office. The address is 327 W. Mill St.

The donations can also be mailed to Art and Design, Attention Jin A. Seo, 901 S. National Ave. Springfield, MO 65897.

Jewelry of any quantity, quality or material type will be accepted.

Donors will receive discount coupons to apply toward the purchase of new jewelry pieces, with sales supporting Ethical Metalsmiths' mission to educate people about responsibly sourced materials.

Here is the project timeline:

• Through Sept. 16 − Donations of old or unwanted jewelry will be accepted;

• Sept. 20 − Project starts with a two-day sorting event;

• Sept. 23-Dec. 6 − Transform and make pieces;

• January and February − Exhibitions are scheduled.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State University students part of jewelry recycling project