“Almost everyone I’ve brought into the store for an event is someone I know, including musicians and flamenco instructors,” she says.Įvents at Balefire are designed to showcase local art in many formats, collaborate with local non-profits, promote a positive social and environmental impact and prioritize equality and inclusion.įor example, Hollier hosted an art show centered on tactile art featuring the work of blind artists in partnership with the Colorado Talking Book Library and the Blind Institute of Technology. Then I ended up managing two public libraries and that was all about what programming you were going to run.” AdvertisementĪlong the way, she made a lot of connections. “That was all about creating experiences and performance art. “When I was getting my undergraduate degree in art history and metalsmithing, I hung out with art students and I had space in a gallery where people lived,” Hollier says. In-store events come naturally to her for a variety of reasons. It’s also used for pop-ups and trunk shows with artists and makers, including local clothing designers, artists, chocolatiers and more.
Yed omi jewelry free#
Beyond the front showroom is a small kitchen, bar and a flex space used for events such as gallery openings, jewelry making class, and free lectures on gemstones hosted by a local AGTA Spectrum award-winning lapidary. In addition to the organic, informal education that takes place in the gallery and in custom consultations, Hollier also offers slightly more formal options. Education is a core aspect of how Hollier approaches her work because the jewelry she carries represents a wide variety of materials and techniques. Visitors come by to learn about stones or a metalsmithing technique, make jewelry themselves, or meet an artist. Offering jewelry-making classes to customers has opened their eyes to the fact that hand-making jewelry isn’t easy. Hollier aims to build a true customer experience through education and community engagement, all with the arts at its core. And she does encourage charismatic personalities, storytelling and tactile encounters. Although Balefire looks nothing like Aunt Tettie’s colorful hodgepodge, it does share a sense of discovery with that enterprise. She resolved to return to her background in metalsmithing and art history, which she had left almost 20 years before, and soon after, Balefire Goods was born.
Circumstances in her adult life had led her in different directions, including library science and information technology. In late 2017, though, she took stock of her life as a successful technology entrepreneur and realized she was unfulfilled. Hollier had been planning a jewelry store in her head for a long time without fully realizing that’s what she wanted to do. Later, she earned degrees in art history and metalsmithing. As a young child, she worked with her grandfather in his metal shop and visited art shows with her mom. ”Īrtisan jewelry has deep roots in Hollier’s life. I had one-on-one time with this fascinating woman who I thought was cool.”Īlmost everyone I’ve brought into the store for an event is someone I know, including musicians and flamenco instructors. She knew who made it, the materials, the story behind it. I’d sit on her lap and I’d show her the pieces I wanted to know more about. But she would let me engage with it if she were there. It was just madness! And I was not supposed to touch it, so it was like forbidden fruit. It was a rainbow of glitter and weird shapes, like Carmen Miranda. “She literally had five of those 6-by-2 or 6-by-3-foot tables so covered with costume jewelry that you couldn’t see the table tops.
Her great-aunt Tettie owned an antique store in Lake Charles, LA, that Hollier recalls as insanely surreal. JAMIE HOLLIER’S earliest experience of retail jewelry involves cool characters, forbidden fruit and tantalizing tales. OWNER: Jamie Hollier | URL: | FOUNDED: 2017 | OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2017 | EMPLOYEES: 3 | AREA: 1,188 square feet with 550 square-foot showroom | TOP DESIGNERS: Jamie Hollier, BoldB, Ash Hilton, Aimee Petkus, Yed Omi | ONLINE PRESENCE: 373 Facebook likes, 1,316 Instagram followers, 5 stars with 14 Google reviews Jamie Hollier brings a world of experience to the jewelry store concept.
SMALL COOL 3RD PLACE: Balefire Goods / Arvada, CO Sense of Discovery
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