Transmuting Trash into Treasure with Radical Jewelry Makeover
Alchemists of yesteryear were obsessed with transmuting base metals into gold. While less mystical in method, Radical Jewelry Makeover achieves this alchemical goal of creating value where none had been. The “traveling community mining and recycling project” solicits broken, discarded and otherwise unwanted jewelry and then teaches makers various methods (e.g. cold connecting, melting down, stone setting and casting) for creating new pieces from the old. This radical act of recycling is part of the larger mission of Ethical Metalsmiths, an organization founded in 2004 with the goal of educating the public about the toxic environmental consequences of mining for metals used in jewelry.
Radical Jewelry Makeover is currently in residence in Wisconsin and is holding a kick-off symposium, Feb. 24-25, on the third floor of the Kenilworth Square East Building. The kickoff features lectures, student presentations, an open studio and a pin swap. For a detailed schedule and participation information, visit facebook.com/radicaljewelrymakeover.
Artist Reception for Andy Fletcher and Katie Musolff “All I Can Get”
Tory Folliard Gallery
233 N. Milwaukee St.
Andy Fletcher and Katie Musolff both paint the splendor of Wisconsin’s nature. Fletcher’s plein air canvasses capture the atmospheric majesty of the state’s sparsely inhabited rural environs. Bruised twilight skies and undulating horizon lines are put into perspective by lonely farmhouses, instilling the viewer with a contemplative calm. Musolff takes an almost scientific approach to Wisconsin’s flora and fauna, collecting specimens from around her home by the Mississippi River and creating smartly arranged watercolors, poignant in their simplicity and handling of death. An artist reception takes place at the Tory Folliard Gallery on Saturday, Feb. 24 from 1-4 p.m.
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“Katheryn Corbin: Migrant”
Lynden Sculpture Garden
2145 W. Brown Deer Road
Ceramic art can be divided into two main categories: functional and aesthetic. While adept at crafting cups, plates and other functional pieces (which are also quite beautiful—the categories are not mutually exclusive), Corbin specializes in large ceramic sculptures of human figures that resemble Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s dandies of La Belle Époque. “Katheryn Corbin: Migrant” exhibits the sculptures and sawdust-fired vessels created during Corbin’s tenure as the Lynden Sculpture Garden’s artist-in-residence. The nearly life-sized figurative ceramic sculptures of migrants find the artist reckoning with the contemporary political climate. The exhibition opens with a reception on Sunday, Feb. 25, from 3-5 p.m.
