Hear Our Houston
public generated
audio walking tours
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft
Houston Jewelry
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22 minutes
.5 miles
From Jewelry Exchange Center to 7500 Bellaire
Uriel takes us on a tour of Jewelry Exchange Center and shares his insider's knowledge of the industry over his career that started with selling gold at flea markets with his mom, built into designing big pieces for celebrities, and now grows on new technology and creative innovation. From the showcase to the shop and from boom to bust he analyzes both the business and art of jewelry in Houston. He calls out the consequences of undervalued labor and overinflated profits, and calls for a creative reinvention of what jewelry can be as a symbol of power, creativity, identity, and culture.
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Uriel Garcia-Vega
Uriel Garcia-Vega is a self taught jewelry designer who first got hooked as a child from being around his Mom's work. Since being recruited at age 15, he has worked at several shops in the Jewelry Exchange Center on Bellaire creating big pieces for Houston's hip hop artists and all kinds of custom work, then at Jewelry Depot on Richmond creating fine jewelry for celebrities, all the while innovating with new technology from CNC machines to 3D printers to Matrix. Uriel is also a husband and father of two kids, founder and lead designer of Uriel by Design, a break dancer with Kaos B-Boys, and co-creator of Kaos TV which documents all aspects of Houston's current underground hip hop.
