Baltimore Jewelry Center Presents An Exhibition of Fine Art Jewelry at D Center Baltimore by Cara Ober
Points of Departure is not just an extensive exhibition of fine art jewelry by many of Baltimore’s top designers, along with their colleagues and students. Although it presents a hefty range of options, including a Betty Cooke necklace, April Wood’s sculptural jewelry interventions, Lauren Schott’s embedded gems, Shana Kroiz’s doodle brooches, Joyce J. Scott’s sculptural necklaces, and a thorough education on the past two decades of fine art jewelry in Baltimore, the purpose of this show is to mark the end of an era and celebrate a new beginning.
After twenty-one years of steady operation in which thousands of art jewelers and metal smiths were educated and a national reputation for quality was earned, MICA has terminated its Jewelry Center in May 2014. The center was a part of the college’s continuing education program and was housed at Meadow Mill in Hampden.
Rather than closing its doors permanently, a core group of longtime MICA Jewelry Center educators and students have come together to create an entirely new non-profit entity: The Baltimore Jewelry Center. Like the former program, the BJC will offer a range of classes at affordable prices, but it will also provide an exhibit and retail space, workshops, hourly bench rental, and artist lectures. The group behind the new project envisions “a premiere makerspace that provides quality craft education from a state of the art facility.” The new space will operate out of the previous home at Meadow Mill until July 2015, when it will relocate to The Centre at 10 East North Avenue, a redevelopment project of Jubilee Baltimore.
According to the BJC, “Our move to Station North Arts and Entertainment District is intentional—we are excited to be part of the continued revitalization of Station North specifically as a maker space joining organizations like Baltimore Print Studios and the Station North Tool Library in providing quality craft education to a diverse audience. Our relocation to Station North will allow us to serve the needs of the current jewelry and metalworking community, attract new artists to the neighborhood, and help retain Baltimore-area college students post-matriculation.”
The group has already raised a significant amount of capital for the project including a $75,000 grant from the Windgate Charitable Trust and a $35,0000 grant from the Abell Foundation towards the build out of their future home on North Avenue. They have also secured a tenant allowance of $147,000 from Jubilee Baltimore for the build out. They still seek to raise another $150,000 for their capital campaign through donations from foundations and individuals.
Points of Departure will up up through Friday, June 20th at the D Center on North Avenue, when it is hosting a closing reception. The exhibit is smartly hung and effectively presents functional jewelry as fine art, but it’s intimate and allows you to appreciate each piece in context. My favorites were the ungainly collaborations between Joyce J. Scott, Lauren Schott, and Shana Kroiz, which presented the best each has to offer all at once but refused to coalesce into harmonious entities. This competition and contrast, inherent in each collaboration, makes each piece all the more special.
Come out on Friday to celebrate the new Baltimore Jewelry Center and the determined spirit of the individuals who are raising it from the ashes of the much loved MICA jewelry program. It is this positive Do It Yourself attitude that is turning Baltimore’s Station North Arts District into an ever evolving hub of creative wealth. Welcome, Baltimore Jewelry Center and thank you for existing!
More information about the closing reception on Friday, June 20th here. More information about summer bench rental and classes at Baltimore Jewelry Center here.
* Author Cara Ober is founding editor at BmoreArt.
