MJSA Calls for Vision Award Entries

The 19th annual MJSA Vision Awards Design Competition, celebrating outstanding talent in the field of jewelry design, is accepting entries in five categories for 2010. New features this year include a Visionary Technical Solution category that will recognize outstanding technical achievement. The competition will also offer an expanded range of prizes, from gift certificates to scholarships to featured ad placements in leading industry trade journals.

This year’s submissions must be postmarked by Jan, 15, 2010. The categories open to independent or company-employed jewelry designers include:

Design Excellence, for designs that exhibit exceptional creativity, craftsmanship, and marketability.

Visionary Technical Solution, for designs in which specific technical challenges-such as combining two non-complementary metals-were overcome to take the piece from concept to completion.

Laser Distinction, for entries in which the design relied upon the use of a laser (sponsored by LaserStar Technologies).

Gold Distinction, for entries that include a minimum of 75 percent of a karat gold alloy in the design (sponsored by Hoover and Strong).

In addition, students in any jewelry-related program may submit rendered designs for the Future of the Industry Award, which recognizes exceptional design achievement and potential.

All MJSA Vision Award winners will be honored at a March 16 ceremony during the annual MJSA Expo New York, scheduled for March 14-16, 2010. Winning entries will also be on display at Expo for thousands of buyers and exhibitors, and they will be featured or recognized in special ad pages in InStore magazine, Metalsmith magazine, and the association’s own MJSA Journal. Additional prizes include:

The grand prize Design Excellence winner will receive a $1,000 gift certificate from Rio Grande, and the first-place Visionary Technical Solution winner will receive a $500 gift certificate from Rio. Second-place Design Excellence and Visionary Technical Solution winners will receive a full library of MJSA Press publications (value of up to $372).

All first-place Distinction winners will receive $500 cash awards; second-place Distinction winners will receive $250 cash prizes.

The first-place Future of the Industry winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the MJSA Education Foundation, payable to any jewelry design, jewelry making, or other jewelry-related degree program at a U.S. college, university, or technical school. The second-place Future of the Industry winner will receive a $500 scholarship from the Foundation.

For submission guidelines or to download an entry form, go to the Vision Awards Entry Guidelines page at mjsa.org, e-mail info@mjsa.org, or call 1-800-444-6572.