The first of eight Sautee Nacoochee Center art shows debuts Friday, highlighting not paintings, photography or sculptures but wearable art.

"All That Glitters" features jewelry from over fourteen different artists, giving patrons art they cannot only enjoy, but wear.

"It's difficult to describe the show because it offers so much; there will be glass jewelry and copper jewelry — we even have a gal that makes jewelry from paper, almost like paper meche, but highly finished; you don't even realize it's paper — there's something for everyone," said Jim Thomas, the director of Sautee Nacoochee Community Association's Center Gallery.

"All That Glitters" offers various styles of jewelry, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pins and headwear.

"Each artist has her own distinctive style, there is quite a nice selection," said Thomas. "All of the art is for sale. There will be pieces anywhere from $12 to $300, so everyone can indulge."

In order to be featured as a Center Gallery artist, one must live within 50 miles of the center; everyone can enjoy the artwork, though.

"Local residents and regular visitors from Atlanta, Athens and other areas look forward to the new exhibits and come to see what we have to offer and to find the best selection of items," Thomas said. "Though we are featuring jewelry now, we still have all kinds of art on display."

One perk of buying gallery art is supporting local artists. However, there are more reasons to frequent "All That Glitters."

"Each piece is unique, one of a kind, handmade jewelry; that's the thing about purchasing art in a gallery," Thomas said.

Though in the past, Center Gallery organized shows by artist, this year the focus is on the genre of art.

"We've been planning these shows since June or July; this year is a slight departure from our past themes in that we're featuring specific groups of artists instead of one, two, three or four different ones," Thomas said. "‘All That Glitters' focuses on our jewelry artists. Later this year, we will also feature wood, pottery, sculpture and more."

Though the focus is on jewelry, much more artwork will be on display.

"We will also have different wall art in the show - a mixture of paintings, oils and mixed media. Though we want patrons to enjoy all of our art, the feature is the jewelry," Thomas said.

To celebrate the exhibit's opening, Center Gallery will hold a reception Saturday where patrons can meet the artists while enjoying free refreshments.

"The receptions are great; we encourage all of our artists to come and meet their admirers or customers," Thomas said. "Many times someone will come and say ‘I bought one of your paintings and never met you!'"

Admission to the gallery is always free.

"We have a great gallery and the best community here," Thomas said.