The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas has an extensive exhibit schedule for September 30, 2007 through January 21, 2008 at the museum's Audrey Jones Beck Building entitled, "Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection." The exhibit will will consider jewelry as an art form (yeah!) and cover some of the history of jewelry as art beginning in the 1960s and going through the 1990s.

The museum's web site has a complete description of the exhibit as well as a pretty good assortment of images of some of the jewelry collection included:

In 2002, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired the Helen Williams Drutt Collection of contemporary jewelry. Comprised of 720 pieces of jewelry dating from 1963 to the present, the collection provides a global look at the field. Over 175 artists from 18 different countries are represented in the holdings.

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection fully explores the impact of contemporary jewelry as a global art form. The goal of the exhibition is to broaden the understanding of contemporary jewelry through a multilayered, critical assessment of the history, issues, and most importantly, the jewelry itself. Placed in context with seminal movements in the non-craft art world, the exhibition encourages the appreciation of contemporary jewelry beyond its traditional boundaries without ignoring its roots. Approximately 300 objects, including about 275 pieces of jewelry, 20 drawings and watercolors, and 3 constructions and sculptures are included in the exhibition.

This wacky and coloful bracelet is from Peter Chang and made of acrylic, PVC, and found objects.




This neckpiece by Gijs Bakker is called "Dewdrop" constructed in 1982 of PVC, print, and gilded brass.