The Beadery – “Hope Valley” beads and South Africa!

What do The Beadery™ and South Africa have in common? The hope of Artist Selven O’keefe Jarmon and The Art League of Houston to reinvigorate interest in the traditional craft of beading.

The 360 Degrees Vanishing Project started when Houston based artist Selven O’Keefe Jarmon visited South Africa and observed local artisans making and selling beaded products. Beading is an art form and a way of life in the African country. In speaking with the beaders, Jarmon learned that the art form was in danger of being lost because young people were not interested in learning the craft and keeping the tradition. He was inspired to try to promote the craft by undertaking a project that would create large scale tapestries made of beads.

In collaboration with artist Selven O’Keefe Jarmon, Art League House and Rice Public Art, 16 highly skilled South African beaders have traveled to Houston to take part in the art work and to help volunteers learn the craft. The South African beaders will assemble the tapestries out of 10-by-15 inch sections which will be mounted on the Art League of Houston’s exterior walls. The installation is scheduled to stay up for a full year, after which it will be disassembled and sold to art collectors. He hopes that this project will showcase the South African beaders’ talents, and bring attention to bead craftand techniques used.

The Beadery™, the oldest molder of plastic beads in the United States founded in 1932, is proud to be the supplier of beads used in the “360 Degrees Vanishing” project. This project will use in excess of 350,000 acrylic beads produced by the Beadery. The custom injection molder with its own line of acrylic and styrene beads sells throughout the world and is also known for manufacturing the US made version of The Rainbow Loom ™. The Wonder Loom™, used for making rubber band bracelets was at the top of every child’s list for Christmas of 2013.

For additional information, please contact Joe Ritacco at 401-539-2432