I |
’m sure
you’ve heard by now, but it never hurts to go over it again ... For 2 1/2 weeks
in late January through mid-February the galaxy cosmically aligns bringing creatives
and makers and those that support them to Tucson, Arizona. Researchers,
gemologists, authors, artists, gem cutters, miners, and nearly 4,000 companies
in the fields of jewelry, gems, minerals and fossils gather from around the
world bringing their treasures, knowledge and expertise to share and sell at
over forty venues throughout the City of Tucson. They buy, sell, deal,
negotiate, mind-meet, rekindle old friendships and nurture new ones in huge
tents, expo halls, hotels, warehouses, and the big Convention Center downtown. We
at Xpo Press call the event the “Tucson Showcase of Gems, Minerals &
Jewelry,” the granddaddy of all gem shows everywhere.
The “Main Event”
And
a little “Club Show” started it
all — 52 years ago. These days, some call it the “Main Event”, and the once-tiny
Tucson Gem & Mineral Show has grown into one of the most respected
mineralogical events in the world. It was the “Tucson Gem Show” years before
other satellite shows in Tucson started popping up to take advantage of the
buyers from around the country (and the globe) attending the original Tucson
Gem & Mineral Show ... the spelling which, now, legally, needs to end with
the registered trademark: Tucson Gem & Mineral Show®.
The 17-day frenzied beauty that is the Tucson
Showcase concludes with the four-day Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® at the
Tucson Convention Center, the “Main Event,” produced and operated by the Tucson
Gem & Mineral Society. If you’ve never stayed in Tucson long enough to
attend this show at the Tucson Convention Center, you need to add a few days to
your Tucson trek next year. You’ll learn the mysteries of mineralogy without
even realizing it!
The Tucson Gem & Mineral Society
Today, the Tucson Gem
& Mineral Show® is the largest and one of the oldest and most prestigious
gem and mineral shows in the world. But it wasn’t always like that. In 1946, a
small group of lapidary and mineral hobbyists established a gem and mineral
society (a club) in Tucson. From the beginning they wanted to offer support and
expertise to a growing national interest in the earth sciences. Just two years
later, they produced their first show.
The modest event was
the first gem and mineral show to bring the hobby enthusiast, the public,
curators and professionals together for discovery and discussion, as well as
providing a forum for mineralogists and gemologists to sit across the table
from each other.
I
love this prosaic expression from the TGMS website, and I can imagine it being
birthed from one of those early, passionate discussions between scientist and
artist. “Born of fluid, heat, and pressure, minerals dazzle us with their
breathtaking colors and shapes and astonish us with their usefulness. They are
forged underground, where forces that have been at work for billions of years
continue to make more minerals. A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic
(nonliving) solid having a specific chemical composition.”
Educational displays and exhibits
As its
mission statement reads, the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society exists as “a community committed
to geology, mineralogy, lapidary and allied earth sciences ... a small group
interested in mineral knowledge and appreciation.”
And about its show the mission
statement reads, “The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® remains dedicated to
presenting extraordinary mineral and jewelry exhibits while bringing together
jewelry, mineral, fossil, lapidary craftsman, and related publication dealers
to provide an unparalleled variety under one roof. A combination museum-shopping
experience that for four days delights young and old.”
One of the responsibilities that comes with a mission to educate
is the necessity to motivate that learning. To that end the Society show has a
feature that one won’t find at most commercial shows — Educational Displays. These
displays constitute nearly half of the show, placed by museums, private
collectors and hobbyists. Displays fall into two categories Guest and
Competitive, providing a rare window into
private and museum collections artfully exhibited in 30”-66” glass display
cases — all interpretations of the annual theme.
The 2018 theme — “Crystals and Crystal Forms”
The 2018
Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® will take the Society back to its mineralogical
roots with the theme, “Crystals and Crystal Forms.”
I was able to catch up with Pat
McClain, executive director of the Society, who revealed that this theme was
chosen purposely, preferring to
choose a wide-open theme for the purists, the mineralogists, and the possibilities
are endless. Let’s consider ...
What is a crystal? Wikipedia defines, “A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions.” And “crystal form” refers to the six basic crystal systems formed from crystal lattices (groups of atoms repeated at regular intervals in three dimensions with the same orientation). Each of these systems can be related to a specific Gem or Gem Group.
This year is going to be filled with gemmy specimens and beauty, untouched by man (except for a good bath), courtesy of Mother Earth.
What your admission fee
goes to support
The Tucson
Gem & Mineral Show® is the only show in the vast Tucson Showcase that
charges an admission fee — $12 plus $1 Tucson Convention Center ticket tax. Proceeds generated by the show remain in the Tucson economy
and are used to support mineral knowledge and
appreciation. The Society has supported the mineral collections at The
University of Arizona and the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum on an annual basis for over forty years. These
grants provide extra funds for the acquisition of minerals and advance the
growth of each collection. The Society also funds a graduate scholarship in the
Geoscience Department at The University of Arizona and a scholarship for the Boys
and Girls Club.
Proceeds generated at the silent auction and from
show admissions have also helped advance knowledge in mineral publications such
as Rocks and Mineral Magazine, The Geo-Literary Society, Mineralogy of Arizona, and The
Mineralogical Record.
Impacting young rock lovers
Most
professionals in the gem and mineral fields will attest to discovering an
interest in rock collecting at an early age, and the Society hopes to impact
these curious young minds today. They do this by sharing the adventure of field
collecting and the beauty of minerals in two separate annual events that focus
on kids. With an eye to the future, the Society and the show committee invite over
2,000 elementary students to attend the show on Friday morning of show week
(February 9 for the 2018 show), free of charge, with their teachers and
chaperones. They are afforded a private showing and provided the opportunity to
view the exhibits and shop special merchandise that the dealers have assembled
especially for them.
