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.