Public Blacksmithing Demonstration 06/24/2009 7:00 PM

Lu Heintz will be in the studio showing guests how she forges her amazing work. We encourage everyone to ask questions, learn all about blacksmithing, and get to know this incredible artist.

Lu - Mama Turkey

About the Artist:
Lu Heintz began metalsmithing when she was fifteen. Her studio has produced sculpture and architectural commissions since she graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Sculpture in 2001. In 2003 she initiated the blacksmithing program at the Steel Yard. During the Steel Yard’s first three years, Lu coordinated the blacksmithing shop while she taught and expanded the educational program. She continues there as a visiting instructor teaching metalworking and metalsmithing skills. Lu has refined her skills through working with many metalsmiths. In 2005 she was awarded a scholarship from ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Association of America) for extended study at Penland School of Crafts. Her metalsmithing has been featured in trade magazines, including The Anvil’s Ring, and a recently published book 500 Metal Vessels. In the past few years her work was exhibited at the Perimeter Gallery (Chicago, IL), Brookfield Craft Center (Brookfield, Connecticut), The RISD Museum (Providence, RI), Hygienic Art (New London, CT), and ADD Gallery (Hudson, NY). In 2006 her first solo show in Providence exhibited nine new sculptures. In 2007 she executed two public commissions; for one she was awarded a Steel Yard based grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for apprentice training in folk arts. In 2008 she completed the renovation of her current studio in New York’s Hudson Valley. With devotion to her medium, Lu continues to explore a range of methods for transforming steel, a rigid and linear material, into elegant forms.

*Lu's visit to the Steel Yard was made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts