Peter Megaw
2020 TGMS Special/Guest Exhibits Chair
We are very excited about our Theme for the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show ®: “World Class Minerals”… and we're expecting it to bring an outpouring of top-quality specimens from all over the world. However, we are getting a lot of questions about what World Class means, so here's a bit of an explanation. Before touching on all the physical aspects of World Class mineral collecting, we need to acknowledge the World Class Mineral Community to which we belong, composed of people passionately interested in minerals and sharing their knowledge, time and specimens with others. The TGMS Show relies on this community to annually volunteer their precious pieces to help us assemble a World Class Mineral Museum that exists for a mere four days and then vanishes, never to be seen in that form again. We try to pick themes that will stimulate exhibitors to use their imagination to determine how to play to the strength of their collections and hope that this freedom encourages them to have fun in deciding what they have to show off that fits the theme. Experience shows that our attendees appreciate the process...or at least the results. So, keep in mind this means that to a significant extent what is World Class is up to you because there is no single, unique yardstick for World Class...although like fine art most of us "know it when we see it"... and are often willing to discuss it endlessly. Show us...and the world...your best!!!
Merriam Webster defines World Class as "being of the highest caliber,” which sounds simple...but who makes the call and based on what? Mineral specimens are different from most other collectibles such as stamps, coins, comic books and baseball cards where the ideal is a known physical paradigm that each other example can be compared to. However, like fine art, each mineral specimen is unique, and appreciation is subjective on many levels; most mineral collectors use their experience and aesthetic sense to weigh their personal reactions to a Kongsberg silver versus an agate slice much as an art aficionado does with a Rembrandt versus a street-fair offering. What matters is what resonates with the individual, not what we think will resonate with an expert or group of experts. There may be consensus on what is aesthetic at a given time, but tastes change ... Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso were not appreciated in their day … so show us what you think is the best and let fashion catch up when/if it does.
To many, World Class conjures up visions of highly valuable giant colorful gem or oxide crystals, and we wholeheartedly welcome exhibits of these! But it can also encompass a suite of specimens from a World Class locality like Tsumeb, Ojuela, Broken Hill or Franklin or superb wulfenites, sulfides, fluorites, quartz etc., from a single remarkable pocket or mine, or a range of localities. It can be a collection of nicely matched Thumbnails or Miniatures … or Micros (remember, many mineral species never get more than a few millimeters long, so the world's best may need a microscope for proper appreciation). The best specimens from a famous by-gone collector or author would clearly rate, as would the best specimens from your collection...after all they are the best in your world. In the final analysis it is YOUR perception that matters... specimen value, or species popularity need not (many might argue should not) be your guiding criteria!
Another avenue we want exhibitors to explore is how perceptions of what is World Class have evolved over time. Tastes change and many of the spectacular specimens available today, collected and prepared with exquisite care, reflect efforts to meet the demand from increasingly sophisticated collectors. This ties nicely into our celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Mineralogical Record! Founded during the TGMS Show back in 1970, The Mineralogical Record (MR) has both documented the evolution of mineral appreciation and led the way by expanding awareness of what is out there and just how good, good can get (an integral aspect of World Class). The MR has spearheaded focus on appreciating the artistic aesthetics of mineral specimens; something that has more and more influence on TGMS exhibits and personal collections every year. The MR also strives to present the historical, cultural and geological context of the spectacular minerals in their features, enhancing our understanding of where the specimens come from and how they get to us. The MR's modest subscription price is within reach of almost all collectors and provides exposure to the best of what exists, regardless of whether or not we personally can possess it. Simultaneously the MR has raised the bar for mineral publications across the world and has led us to today's well written and profusely illustrated journals including Rocks and Minerals, Mineral Monographs, Mineral Up, Lapis, Mineralien Welt, Monde et Mineraux, Le Regne Mineral, Bocamina, Mineral Lover and Mineral Observer. Combined, these let all of us build World Class libraries of mineral literature of a quality that simply did not exist before The Mineralogical Record came along!
Peter Megaw
Special & Guest Exhibits Chair