Instead, wire wrap artist and author Carolyn Eddy will give an introduction to wrapping techniques and tools on that day (Feb. 15 at 1:30 pm)
New - Saturday Feb. 16 will be a full day of lapidary at the Learning Center. We'll start at 11 am with "Taking the Fear out of Faceting" with demos and explanations of old and new machines. Then we'll continue with cabbing, live, on Diamond Pacific's demo Genie units. So come to watch or come to cut, try your hand at it yourself.
Introducing the Learning Center
Welcome to the "Electric Park Learning Centre" – a unique new Tucson attraction. The Electric Park Show is the only Tucson venue that offers a separate facility specifically devoted to free, public,show-and-tell. For the duration of the Tucson Show, visitors can enjoy daily scheduled programs of free, public demonstrations and instruction presented in a dedicated, 20 x 30 foot show-and-tell tent. The demonstrations cover a broad range of lapidary, jewelry-making, and related techniques. While the main focus is on showing and explaining processes and techniques, manufacturers of cabochon and faceting machines, flex shafts and similar devices also give first-hand presentations to introduce and explain their products. Three separate sessions will be given each day of the show period. All will be free, an hour or less in duration, with lots of time for question-and-answer afterward.
Second Year and Going Strong!
After a promising beginning last year (click on 2007 for full details) the Learning Center is back for Tucson 2008 with an exciting lineup of presentations and personalities. Click on 2008 above for this year's complete program and check back often as Tucson time approaches for last minute updates or changes. What's coming up? Here's a glimpse at some of the highlights.
The Mayor of Tucson Cuts a Gem
What Paris is to fashion, Tucson is to gems and minerals in all their aspects and associations. Thus the highest of the highlights will be on Tuesday February 4th at 1:30pm when Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup comes to the Learning Center to facet cut a gemstone, live and in public, in recognition and honor of the stature of Tucson as the world's number one gem and mineral exposition.
Fred Ward Book Launching
Everyone who shares in the fascination of precious stones will be familiar with the name Fred Ward. You only need to say "The Fred Ward books" and everyone knows what you're talking about. Gemmologist and former precious stones photojournalist for National Geographic Magazine, Fred Ward will be at the Learning Center to present his new book on the phenomenal gems, as always, comprehensive, lavishly photographed, and engagingly written. That's at the Learning Center at 3:30 pm, Tuesday the 12th.
New TV Channel all about Jewelry
If you're looking for jewelry training or just simply want an inside look at the techniques and the world of jewelry making, there's a new television channel which will focus on just that. Slated to debut in January via internet televison, Bench Jewelers Television will be a full television network with different channels of interest to bench jewelers. Channels will include, Shop Management, Stone Setting, Jewelry Repair, Custom Manufacturing, Laser Welding, Bench Techniques, New Products, and more. Each channel will feature different shows of related topics. Brad Simon, the initiator of Bench TV, will be at the Learning Center at 1:30 pm On Sunday February 10 to present the new channel.
Scared to Death in Madagascar
It's a difficult thing to be a gem lover and not have a sense of adventure: the two go hand in hand. Haven't all of us at one time or another dreamed of adventuring to the exotic and often primitive corners of the world where gems are found and dug by village or tribal miners. While most of us are content to only dream, not so gem cutter and jeweler Tyler Allen of Georgia. "I took just about all my life savings," he says; "my friends all told me don't do it. But this was a dream I'd had all my life and I had to do it. It was a very twilight experience; I was scared half to death over there." "Over there" is Madagascar, and from his adventure Tyler brought back a chrysoberyl with which he won first place in the recent "Gemmy" awards. You can see the chrysoberyl in the January Lapidary Journal and hear Tyler's own account of his Madagascar adventures at the Learning Center at 3:30 pm on Monday February 4th.
And much much more...
Seminars on spectroscopy, on gem and jewelry photography, on beading, on diamond setting, on sculpture...the list goes on. Click on 2008 above for full program details.
More Items of Interest for 2008
TRAFFIC As you may know there's major construction underway on the downtown section of I-10. That's sure to snarl traffic in the affected areas even more than it usually is at show time. Fortunately the Electric Park Show is located comfortably out of the problem zone. Access will be just as easy as it always is. And what's more, parking at the Electric Park Show is never a problem. There's a very large parking area immediately at the show. Plus, parking here is free.
AUDIO VISUAL Thanks to Crystalite, the Learning Center this year will be equipped with a 42 inch flat panel monitor, and thanks to cutter and former professional photographer Wayne Emery, we'll have a USB camera that feeds directly into that screen. No more craning of the neck and crowding around the work space. Now you'll see the close up details right up there on the screen, big, bold, and magnified.
A co-op venture between Alpha Supply, Diamond Pacific, The Graves Company, Kent’s Tools, The Crystalite Company, and Electric Park Show organizer Al Sargent, the Learning Center concept was developed and proposed by gem cutter, jewelry-maker and lapidary writer Hans Durstling, of Moncton, Canada. The key aim is to present and explain gem and lapidary, jewelry-making, and associated processes in a live, hands-on, accessible, enjoyable way. We've all heard it said that Tucson has grown so big, so stressful, so rushed, so impersonal. That you can’t sit down and talk to people anymore, watch what they are doing, learn from them, make personal contacts and personal friendships. Well, at the Learning Center you will be able to do all that. Sit down and watch expert practitioners, some of whom you may have read about in the lapidary and jewelry magazines, as they demonstrate and explain techniques and processes, tools and machines. And ask questions, and get to know them personally. See you at the Electric Park!