Why Montealegre?
The short answer: Montealegre is my grandmother’s name.
It means happy hill.
It honors my dual heritage, Appalachian and Andean, and evokes the lush green Colombian mountains where I learned the art of jewelry and where I source my materials, including the world’s finest emeralds.
But the name carries so much more than that.
Las Montealegre
I grew up in the United States far from the huge Colombian family that meant fun, laughter, heavy-handed but well-meaning discipline, stories of ancestry and heritage, personalities so rich and extreme to be in their presence was to be eyes wide with wonder and awe.
The stories and doings of my family seemed bigger than any magical realism novel could hold.
And “Los Montealegre” were this family. While my grandfather’s family, the Ramírezhad their own mystique and magic, The Montealegres were a force, a force of women in a matriarchy that showed me what it meant for women to hold power.
Going to gatherings of Las Montealegre always meant only the women. And these meetings for onces, coffee or hot chocolate with pastries at 5ish, or parties were not small affairs. Nearly 100 girls and women would attend. Laughter and tales of strength and power filled each visit. I was in awe. And happy that I too would be an important woman with strength, resilience, strategic reasoning, and power. I don't know exactly how all of that was conveyed, but it was certainly an overwhelming feeling that provided a strong sense of determination.
So, when thinking of how I could put a name to the venture of sourcing Colombian materials to create pieces of jewelry made using traditional techniques for women who want to show power, self-confidence, style, the name of this branch of my family came to mind.
Mountain People
Montealegre fit even more so because I do see myself as a product of my heritage, and the lands that I was born into and love. I am mountain people. My dad’s family is from Appalachia and my mother’s is from the Andes. I cannot but love the mountains. My great-uncle Leonard Tate, unofficial poet laureate of Grundy County, Tennessee wrote a poem entitled, “Mountain People.” Since learning the poem in my teens, its title has been a pillar in my identity.
The Birth of Montealegre Atelier
It was in the Andes that the idea of gathering the bounties of Colombia’s mountains, emeralds and precious metals, to share with people far away was conceived. To me, there is nothing like breathing in the air of green mountains. So to be so lucky as to have the name of that matriarchal family be comprised of the words Monte (hill or peak or mountain) and alegre (joyful) was truly special.
And just to give you a glimpse into the way my mind works, you might notice that one of the fonts used for my brand has the name Montserrat: mont again, but also, the name of a the mountains outside Barcelona, an area I studied when doing research on the Middle Ages. It is also the name of a mountain that overlooks Bogotá, one which we climbed as a child as a pilgrimage my mother thought we should do to show our gratitude for our safe return home to her homeland and her mother, my grandmother, Isabel Montealegre de Ramírez.
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