[TheForge] blacksmithing / metalwork formal training and higher education

[Ries Niemi]

There are a few, but only a few.
Austin Community College has a great program in Welding technology, that includes forging and blacksmithing. William Bastas, who teaches there, is great.
http://www6.austincc.edu/schedule/index.php?op=browse&opclass=ViewSched&term=214S000&disciplineid=PCWET&yr=2014&ct=CC
As a community college, its relatively affordable, and you can get a 2 year AA degree in Welding tech, which is a handy thing to get all kinds of jobs.

The big dog is Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, which has undergraduate and Masters degrees in Metalsmithing, which can include lots of Blacksmithing. This is where dozens of famous blacksmiths have gone to school- many of the more well known names in the Biz have MFA's from here. Mokeme Gane was essentially reverse engineered and re-invented in the Western World here, in the late 70s. Rick Smith, the current professor there, is a great blacksmith, a really interesting artist, and can walk the walk, AND talk the talk. 

There is a school in Canada, in Ontario-
http://flemingcollege.ca/programs/artist-blacksmith
which has an artist blacksmith program.

These are the ones I know of in North America. 
There are a couple of colleges that have bladesmithing programs, as well- The Bill Moran school of Bladesmithing is at Texarkana College, and the Haywood Community College in NC.

Beyond that, there is the New England School of Metalwork, Haystack, Penland, and Peters Valley, which all have 3 day to 2 week blacksmithing classes, but not degree programs.
On the west coast, there is Adam's Forge in Pasadena, the Crucible in Oakland, and Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, which all have, again, 3 day to 2 week classes. 

ries



On Oct 22, 2013, at 10:06 AM, Eric Klaus wrote:

> I was recently contact by on of my children's middle school teachers.  His
> message was something to the effect of "my 17 year old son's only interest
> in life right now seems to be blacksmithing.  Can you give me any advice on
> where to start?"
> 
> Well .... that's a loaded question now, isn't it!
> 
> But seriously .. of course I'll mention ABANA, local affiliates, etc.  And
> then mention John C. Campbell and others that teach classes.  But ... are
> there any formal, higher education programs that have a focus on
> blacksmithing or metalwork?  I don't know if he is serious about pursing it
> at that level, but any ideas I can share with them would be much
> appreciated.
> 
> thanks,
> Eric
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