The Tucson Bead Show

The Tucson Bead Show is held at the Doubletree Tucson Reid Park. It is an adjunct of To Bead True Blue, a yearly bead trade show held concurrent with the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. It gathers the finest handwork artisans and wholesale trade suppliers together in one place for an intense, wholesale and retail, cash and carry market. five hundred exhibitors, workshops, and demonstrations, each specially selected by a careful hands-on search to find artisans with prestigious national and international histories. The Tucson Bead Show harkens back to tradition, historic trade routes, medieval guilds, nomadic merchants, and the ancient bead trade. The handwork tradition is a story-map of the human journey, abounding with tales of survival, magic, and cultural trade. The evolution of stone knapping to lapidary art to glass bead making was breathtakingly slow. It took several million years to develop color vision, depth awareness, and hand-eye coordination. The ancient bead maker required specialized stone working skills and tools, which in turn helped develop pottery and weaving crafts. Becoming a bead maker today is the consequence of developing skills, reviving lost techniques, and working with antique tools. It is often a self-taught art inspired by an intense personal experience. There are bead makers who began as goldsmiths, doctors, or archaeologists, and there are bead makers who became textile artists, ceramists, and fashion designers. The Tucson Bead Show gathers them all into an elegant display of artisanal handwork and wholesale trades. Here are just a few examples of what you will find: millefiore-style lamp work beads, gold cloisonné, carved jade, marbled silk, hand formed silver clasps, art fabrics, Shibori scarves, Gablonz drücken glass beads, lost wax carvings, Afghan kilims, polymer clay jewelry, handfelted hats, and art couture.(Also see: Apply to Exhibit; Fast Facts; Exhibitor List; Product List; Workshop List)