Celebrating Beads, the journey of... Bead Gala

Celebrating Beads, the journey of... First Annual International Juried Jewelry Design Competition is over, bead artists from over 14 countries and 33 states participated in the contest. The culmination of the competition was The Passion for Beads Gala held at the Naval Heritage Memorial Center in Washington, DC on Saturday, September 20th, 2008. There I met one of my readers - The Lone Beader, and I was happy! We talked a lot and we are like old friends now!


The Lone Beader, an extraordinary bead embroidery artist from Boston, MA, and me

It was really exciting event, where the contest winners were announced, and the World Premier of Diana Friedberg's final documentary in her award winning series World on a String, Part V: A Passion for Beads took place. This documentary features bead makers and jewelry designers from around the world and was the perfect touch for that evening Celebrating Beads and the designers who make and use them.


Rafael Matias, California, USA, a guest artist from the documentary

I met many wonderful people at the Gala: four of contest jurors, editors from two national beading magazines, and a lot of contest participants. It was my first such an event, and I can say that the entire experience was necessary, fun, and interesting.


Slide show: The Passion for Beads Gala