Speaker had to cancel. He will be back in the fall.  

Cancelled! 

The May Bead Society Program Meeting will be rescheduled on Zoom. Our speaker is Rod Miyata of Ace of Diamonds in Culver City. ​Mr. Miyata will talk on Custom Jewelry Manufacturing and will present a slide show to inform our members of the processes. He is also tempting us with some items, such as earrings, that he will have for a raffle. Join us! 

Rod is a gemologist who along with his wife, Chris run the Ace of Diamonds jewelry store in Culver City. They are dealers of Fine Jewelry and Custom Design Manufacturing, provide expert jewelry appraisals and repairs and are members of the prestigious American Gem Society.​



The Bead Society Business meeting is at 6:30 pm PT at the same Zoom address!  Elections will be held! Members, be there to vote! 

The Bead Society was recently approached by Sage Phillips with the Makwa Studio about the Hospital Gown Project-- a community-based collaborative beaded artwork. They are currently seeking remote & in-person contributions of blue brick-stitch bead swatches! Remote swatches have a deadline to be sent by April 30th.

"It would be lovely if you could share this information and opportunity among your organization, students, friends, loved ones, or to anybody who would be interested! We invite anyone who has been impacted by alcoholism within their families or by their loved ones to join us in the creation of a new work titled “Hospital Gowns”. 

These will be exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe NM in July 2025.  Any sales of work will have a portion donated to the Minneapolis organization, Southside Harm Reduction. 

Swatches can vary in size and vary in shades of blue (as long as they are blue!) We ask that the swatch is no bigger than 4 inches on either side. They can even be as small as .5" x .5" -- any size within 4 inches is great! Please make sure they are constructed using the brick-stitch beading technique!

Swatches can be mailed to the following address:

Makwa Studio
1500 Jackson St NE
Studio #238
Minneapolis, MN, 55413

Makwa Studio is so excited to see the contributions! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions, or for more information about the project and how to be involved.

Thank you,

Sage Phillips | [email protected] | they/she | www.makwastudio.com