The stunning red Jasper catching sunrays in Maëlle and Sâyan Johnston’s hands, was probably fished out of the bottom of a river on Jamaica’s east coast, camouflaged by ordinary, everyday stones. But while river stones are plentiful below the surface of many Jamaican rivers, a fraction like this jasper, can be traded in global multimillion dollar markets.

Jaspers, Agates, Quartz, Calcite, Malachite, and Azurite – all Semi-precious stones – are scattered along riverbeds, riverbanks and fields across Jamaica, indistinguishable from common rocks to all but the trained eye. It’s the same for other lesser-known Development Minerals, like alabaster, which can tower over sections of eastern Jamaica, covered by thin layers of forest.

Local artisans like Maëlle and Sâyan know the locations, value and potential. In 2022, the global market in semi-precious stones stood at 250 million USD yearly. It’s forecast to reach 678.1 million USD by 2029[1]. Along with Marble and Travertine, global Alabaster trade was $2.03 billion in 2022.

Keen to tap into this global opportunity, the Johnston sisters work with semi-precious stones and other materials like conch shells and silver, transforming them into wearable, utilitarian and healing art. The studio they co-founded is a converted corner warehouse on Lower Elletson Road in downtown Kingston, seconds away from low-income communities that can instantly become war zones.

Artisan House is born

In 2015, the corner warehouse was renamed ‘Artisan House’ when Maëlle switched up the business model and opened the doors to talented members of the Jamaican artisan community. The business brand Mae Market became a social enterprise type organization dedicated to supporting, training, representing and guiding other artisans, working as a business and creative incubator, especially assisting those without connections and capital. Her goal, she says, was to help artisans produce and market value-added products, specializing in locally sourced minerals.

“In Jamaica, we’re seeing a growing market for artisan products, but one of the major issues is that the raw materials being used in their products is not locally sourced,” she says. She decided to channel some of her supplies of local semi-precious stones to other artisans to use as raw materials for their end products. “We custom made (raw materials) for artisans to create truly value-added Jamaican made products – where they’re not just (importing) from wherever in the world but giving it a Jamaican footprint, utilizing our Jamaican stones,” she explains. “We have the machines to cut, polish and bring them to an end product.

The Development Minerals Programme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), immediately recognized that Maëlle Johnston’s enterprise was ripe for capacity building and knowledge sharing. Their global mission is to bolster production and trade in underutilized development minerals like the ones transformed and traded by Mae Market, and to help the sector showcase and fulfil its economic potential. Financed by the European Union, the Programme is implemented in Jamaica by UNDP in partnership with the Mines and Geology Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining.

Just as Maëlle was about to participate in the Programme’s life changing training exchange in South Africa in 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic struck.  

Turning Point

The COVID pandemic ushered in the chilling prospect of economic ruin not only for Mae Markets, but her network of over 25 artisans who relied on the social enterprise. The Development Minerals Programme implemented by UNDP stepped in, with a 5000 USD grant in 2021 – one of 19 grants gifted to Jamaican artisans since 2019, valuing a combined 125 000 USD.

“We were able to refurbish our machines, purchase new or second-hand machines and really fix those up. We also bought tools and different supplies that were needed as well to work with the semi-precious stones”. She explains.

But the turning point came when she also used the grant to pivot her marketing and distribution model from retail pops ups to a business-to-business model that connected the artisans with retailers, hotels, restaurants and gift shops. The team photographed the products in their best light and shopped classy catalogues to potential markets.

The investment in equipment, distribution and marketing paid off. Maëlle reports her Mae Market business has grown over 200% since 2020, including the pandemic years when multiple enterprises shut down. Combined sales income for her artisans also grew – 161% over the 2020 to 2021 period; a whopping 768% in 2021 to 2022 and another 20% in 2022 to 2023. 

Artisan House’s inventory of some 25 to 30 pieces of custom equipment which cuts and polishes semi-precious stones is now one of a kind in Jamaica.

“Not only was this grant able to help us to develop the semi-precious stone industry in Jamaica, but we’ve also been able to utilize our machines and tools to develop and diversify our portfolio,” says Maëlle.

For example, Artisan House now also creates glass products from recycled bottles, and loans their equipment to other artisans who work in mixed materials like coconut shell, cow horn or bone, seashells and other stones.

Sâyan, co-founder, Managing and Creative Director, came home from studies in Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute just in time to support the COVID era pivot. This included guiding artisans to develop, innovate and improve their products. “I was just really thankful that we were able to build back the space in order to make these fun products. It was really exciting to be in a space where I’m able to create among other artisans who are equally as excited as me about creating new and interesting products. It was just a really great opportunity”, she says.  

Artisan and Master Craftsman, Valentine ‘Koda’ McLean, one of five on the Mae Market team, runs Koda Handmade working with coconut, calabash, seeds shells, cow horn and bone. “(Now I have) access to all the machines that I can create almost anything you can think of, thanks to Maëlle. I create miracles. Anything I touch is gold”.  

Another member of the artisan network, Egbert ‘Stone Boss’ Hamilton who specializes in alabaster, praises Mae Market.

“In terms of sales, it helped me to sell the product … to design different, fresh things, that can take the market more readily, and it’s been ‘going good’. I just have to produce the things; they will do the sales, and we are in business”.

When Bonito ‘Don Dada’ Thompson was in search of adequate space to execute a massive project for a popular north coast spot, he sought a place his team would feel safe and happy.

“Oh, it’s amazing having such a space,” he says of Artisan House. “It’s easy to work out of. Without this, we would not be able to do this project, point blank.

“They needed a space, they needed access to machinery and tools,” Maëlle states. “We were able to invite artisans of different disciplines to utilize our machines and access space to do their works. This is a much-needed thing for our community of artisans, within the current economic environment, with significant limitations on access to support and resources, especially for businesses within the creative and artisan sectors”. 

With a forward-thinking model that serves hope and practical support to creatives, Artisan House towers over its corner location, as a shining example of all that is right on Lower Elletson Road.