St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – St. Lucie County Rock & Gem Club
Member Spotlight – St. Lucie County Rock & Gem Club
St. Lucie County Rock and Gem Club has celebrated lapidary sciences and jewelry arts since 1978. Beginning with only 45 rockhounds attending monthly meetings at the Ft. Pierce Municipal Power Plant, the Club has grown consistently over the years, with members now living from Palm Bay to Palm City. Originally sharing tools and skills with each other in individual homes, the Club was given workshop space at the (then-named) Indian River Community College, and ultimately purchased its own workshop in Port St. Lucie. The shop is equipped with a variety of power and hand tools for coaxing additional beauty from rocks and metals, beads and glass, gemstones and wire.
Classes are the core of the Club’s existence. Members, as both teachers and students, work side-by-side to learn and master techniques for creating fine jewelry and exploring geological wonders. Classes and workshops have included faceting (gemstones), cabbing (rocks), intarsia, metalsmithing (such as copper and silver), enameling, metal clay, casting, beading, lampwork, glass fusion, chainmaille, and wire weaving.
The St. Lucie County Rock and Gem Club will be presenting its 44th Annual Jewelry, Rock and Gem Show this year at the MIDFLORIDA Event Center on October 30-31. From the Club’s inception, it has presented a show in several locations around the Treasure Coast, complete with demonstrations and vendors. The show is recognized as an outstanding educational and shopping experience. Proceeds from the show’s attendance go towards a scholarship for a geology or art student at Indian River State College.