June 21, 2024 – September 14, 2024

Preeminent collector Susan Grant Lewin traces her passion for art jewelry back to her work in the 1980s and ’90s as a journalist and communications executive. Author of one of the premier books on then-rising American jewelry artists, Lewin has followed the careers of these practitioners, as well as those of their international counterparts and emerging talents, for four decades. Although it is not the only exhibition to feature Lewin’s impressive holdings, A Collector’s Journey: Susan Grant Lewin and the Art Jewelry World is the first to survey her longstanding commitment to this phenomenon, which has evolved from isolated pockets of artists creating conceptual, mostly wearable statements made from mundane materials into today’s global movement.

The discovery area at “Zinggenstock” in the Bernese Oberland is known among”radiators” for its rock crystals and pink fluorites. In the summer of 2003, I had the opportunity to accompany a friend, a mineral collector, there. After a four-hour hike over rocks and gravel, the first rock crystal shards glittered in the bright sun, crystal-clear fragments but still somewhat small; then came larger pieces, which I packed in my rucksack. My friend looked for crevices in the rock faces where the crystals were still clinging to the bedrock. I was happy with the broken pieces and had already found a good number of them. To continue, I had to cross an ice field about 20 meters wide, sloping downwards and getting steeper and steeper. Then, surprisingly, an alpinist appeared with a rope, ice axe, etc. We exchanged a few words. I was startled when he said: “You are in great danger, without equipment and in simple hiking boots! If you slip, there’s no stopping you. After 20 meters your pants will be worn through, after another 20 your skin, then you’ll slide on your bones faster and faster towards the abyss, 2,000 meters!” When I think about the situation, I am still overcome with horror. I was very lucky; I wasn’t aware of the danger. The stone comes from there, the ring reflects the situation.
Bernhard Schobinger, [city of residence], April 2024
A Collector’s Journey: Susan Grant Lewin and the Art Jewelry World was made possible by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National White  Endowment for the Arts; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Coral Gables; Beaux Arts Miami; Lowe members; William P. Short III; the Kim and Al Eiber Charitable Trust;  the Rotasa Foundation; and AIDA. It was guest curated by Ursula Ilse-Neuman and based on a concept originally developed by Davira S. Taragin.