TACOMA, WA.- Have you taken comfort in wearing a locket with a small image of a loved one, pinned on a symbol reflecting your faith, or donned a special gemstone to draw the right kind of energy into your life? Have you wondered at the spike piercing the tongue of your favorite barista, or admired a passer-by’s broad gold ring so large that it loops over multiple fingers? Cultures across time and across the globe have crafted armor and amulets, leaving behind evidence of humankind’s ongoing efforts to achieve physical protection and spiritual security. Wearable metalwork forms range from the simply functional to elaborate, heavily ornamented designs, and the rich, complex traditions of jewelry-making and metalsmithing continue to inspire today’s artists.

Discover how the legacy of historical and functional objects is being reinterpreted as contemporary jewelry and metal art at Tacoma Art Museum’s Protective Ornament: Contemporary Amulets to Armor, on view October 18, 2014 through February 1, 2015.

“This exhibition had its origins during the 2012 Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in Seattle. We knew this was the right project for us because of the emotional impact of the works and their relevance to today’s issues of gender, violence, and protection,” says Rock Hushka, Chief Curator at TAM, adding “Protective Ornament continues our ongoing commitment to major jewelry projects at TAM and reflects our goals for building our collection of studio art jewelry by Northwest artists.”

Approximately 80 unique works by some of today’s finest regional and national metalsmiths and artists will be on view. Among them are 15 Northwest artists, including Flora Book, Andy Cooperman, Keith Lewis, Lori Talcot, and Nancy Worden. The array of helmets, brass knuckles, breastplates, aggressive and defensive jewelry, chain mail, amulets, talismans, and protective gear addresses issues of protection and empowerment in the face of everyday perils and social challenges, and underscores the important safeguarding function of jewelry and other wearable ornaments.

Visitors to Protective Ornament can also explore selected works from TAM’s studio art jewelry collection, the largest collection in the world of jewelry by Northwest artists, on view in the Davis Gallery study cases. See the recently acquired necklace by Coralyn Pence, commissioned by Anne Gould Hauberg for the opening of the King Tut exhibition in 1979, and works by Mary Lee Hu, Ken Cory, Nancy Worden. Find more about metal arts and jewelry in the TAM Store, which carries catalogues from past exhibitions.

The Protective Ornament exhibition is timed as one of the highlights of Metal-Urge, Tacoma’s city-wide celebration of metal arts. Metal-Urge takes place from October 1 through November 30 and focuses on local metal artists with displays of jewelry, artifacts, sculptures and home décor. Events include the Metal-Urge Free Community Festival on October 19 in Tollefson Plaza across from Tacoma Art Museum, and for the first time ever in Tacoma, the Seattle Metals Guild 19th Annual Northwest Jewelry and Metals Symposium at the Washington State History Museum on October 18.