Event Recap: MAD About Jewelry Benefit + Luncheon

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MAD About Jewelry is the Museum of Arts and Design’s annual benefit awards celebration and sale of contemporary jewelry.

Now in its 25th year, this milestone edition showcases extraordinary designs from 50 emerging and acclaimed international jewelry artists representing more than 20 countries. MAD About Jewelry is the ultimate pop-up shop for artist-made jewelry, offering collectors and jewelry enthusiasts alike the rare opportunity to meet and acquire pieces from the most innovative creators in the field. This year’s highlights include Xinyi Chen’s “Artificial Intelligems” crafted from electronic waste, Joana Correia’s organic pieces made from silk cocoons and orange peels, and Cano Jewelry’s modern interpretations of pre-Columbian goldsmithing traditions.

Celebrating the opening was a benefit brunch honoring Frank Everett, Vice Chairman of Jewelry Americas, Sotheby’s, on May 3rd. Guests were welcomed by MAD Board Chairman Michele Cohen, who invited everyone to an exclusive tour of the exhibit, personally led by MAD About Jewelry Director, Bryna Pomp. Attending the sold out event were Susan Ach, Marian and Rusty Burke, Marcia Doctor, LaVon Kellner, Sheila Lambert, Madison McFerrin, Richard McGeehan, Marsy Mittlemann, Karen and Michael Rotenberg, Brittany Slater, Peter Trippi, and many others. Frank spoke movingly about his fascination with jewelry, the sale of jeweler Shaun Leane’s personal archives (2017), and the Brilliant & Black: A Jewelry Renaissance exhibition (2021) which celebrated the works of 25 leading designers. He thanked his husband, Alex Chavez, “for giving me the encouragement to leave the restaurant in San Francisco and follow my passion and my dream career.”

On May 5th, MAD’s chairman emerita Barbara Tober hosted lunch and conversation with MAD Curator Barbara Paris Gifford and art historian Toni Greenbaum.

“Everyday I see friends of the museum that understand the beauty of jewelry. Everybody has a certain taste that is just a little different. A little bit special. A little bit creative. And that’s what we do here.”

said MAD Director Tim Rodgers.

“Jewelry is wearable sculpture. It’s personal – it tells the world something about you.”,

said Greenbaum, adorned in Art Smith jewelry, “Art Smith wasn’t just decorative, it was architectural.”

Following the lunch, guests excitedly rushed to the third floor, where artists’ jewelry was on sale directly from the makers.

Guests included MAD Board Members LaVon Kellner, Barbara Tober, Barbara Waldman, and MAD Curator Elissa Auther, as well as Grimanesa Amoros, Carrie Rebora Barratt, Alva Chinn, Joan Hardy Clark, Pat Cleveland, Paul Van Ravenstein, Machine Dazzle, Tiffany Dubin, Han Feng, Michele Gerber Klein, Susan Gutfreund, Isabelle Harnoncourt Feigen, Margo Langenberg, Bonnie Lautenberg, Jeanne Lawrence, Betsy McCaughey, Katie Ridder, Dame Donna Anne Soloway, Lynn Yaeger, and HRH Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia.