A vibrant community of Utah rock and mineral artists, experts, and collectors gathered at The Monarch studios in Ogden on Dec. 8, 2024, for The Crystal Festival. Founded in 2008 by geology teacher and “rock hound” Adrienne McElwain, The Crystal Festival is a “one-stop shop” where like-minded collectors from all over the Western United States gather for a showcase of rocks, minerals, gemstones, crystals, fossils, and more. “I just try to find people that do unique things with rocks and bring them together,” McElwain said. 

With her company Crystal Barista and her partner Ron Garza, McElwain has traveled all over the world, procuring the rocks that she and her team showcase at the 15 Crystal Festivals they host each year. On each trip, they hunt for samples and document the process from mine to display, including cutting, polishing, heat treating, and crafting into art. 

At the Crystal Festival in December, Crystal Barista showcased samples from their most recent trip to Brazil. One of their most spectacular finds were several enhydros – geodes formed from underwater volcanic activity, which still have water inside them. Crystal Barista’s samples hold water that has remained untouched for about 280 million years. 

As McElwain and Garza emphasized, their incredible collection would not have been possible without the support of the Utah rock hound community. “I’ve had so many different experiences with meeting people whose lives are this, who not only do rock work but also have significant expertise in the fields of geology, mineralogy, and all aspects surrounding it. So you can’t do this alone, you’ve got to go out and immerse yourself in the community,” Garza said. “And I’m very happy that I have the opportunity to do something that is not just wholesome and enriching but endlessly fascinating.”

“We’re kind of like this big family,” McElwain said. “We try to bring everybody together so people know all the resources they can go out and find throughout the state. There’s a person here who can cut and polish for you, and people that can help you go rock hunting, people that do art, people that own mines. So, shopping’s the fun part today, but it’s all about getting into that work for those lifelong connections.” 

Among the collectors at The Crystal Festival were rock hounds both new and experienced, all of whom brought their unique contributions to the showcase. Fourteen-year-old Owen joined Crystal Barista in Brazil for his very first rock mining expedition and set up his first booth at the festival. Rick Dalrymple has drawn upon over 50 years of expertise as a mineral curator to write a detailed collecting guide titled Rock On! Utah. 

Artist Mary Jane Ty, who creates wire pendants and customized bracelets, is an expert in the energies of different stones. “For a bracelet, you don’t just make a combination of colors. You also have to look at the meaning and properties of each stone – the purpose of the match,” she said. Miner and jewelry maker Patrick Foster owns a mine rich with ghost mountain minerals, and focuses on the shape of the rock. “Some parts are harder, some softer, in the way it breaks, and I’ve found with materials that if you force a calibrated shape to it, you will be fighting the wheel, you’ll be fighting the stone,” he said. “You have to let the rock choose what shape it wants to become.”

Full-time rock shop owners Stephanie and Jonas Berry created their company from scratch out of a small business location and a one-year loan of rocks. Collector Josie Collins is in the process of building her business with the goal of becoming a full-time curator. April Ricks fashions handcrafted gothic-style pendants, and Mike Nielson and his wife make electricformed jewelry. 

Over the last two decades, the Crystal Festival has grown from a gathering of friends displaying their collections out of the back of their trunks into a community-wide celebration of all things rock and mineral. Whether they are just starting out or have been developing their expertise for many years, these Utah rock hounds have created exquisite artwork, thriving businesses, and a community as unique as their individual specialties. λ