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Steven Rosenberg
Artist/Blacksmith
I am an artist/craftsman and the owner of Hammersmith, the studio workshop I established in 1973.
My art school training has led me on a path of exploration in a wide range of ideas and materials. While a student at Kent State University I had the good fortune to work in the University Art Gallery under Leroy Flint, the former director of the Akron Art institute. Leroy was a recognized painter and a mentor who helped guide my ambitions in the field of design and craft towards the highest of artistic aspirations. Following the shootings at Kent State, a parade of world renowned artists came through campus; working with them in the gallery had a profound impact on my identity as an artist and the direction my work has taken.
My interest in metals was first sparked by Mary Ann Scheer, metalsmithing professor at Kent and then through the Blossom Kent Honors Program which brought Brent Kington and blacksmithing to campus. I found myself spellbound with hammer, anvil and red hot metal and immersed myself in the art of blacksmithing.
Through the years, I have sought situations where historic techniques as well as higher tech industrial skills could be applied in the making of modern day statements. Design, craftsmanship and creativity are the building blocks I employ in art and architectural projects. In addition, I have devoted much of my time to a body of work that is not driven by the marketplace but rather by an instinct to communicate expressively.
My work has appeared in museums, books, magazines and newspapers.
I have been invited to demonstrate at professional metalsmithing conferences in such places as the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Ashokan Field Campus, New York, and the Studebaker Homestead in Ohio. My work was also included in the inaugural show of the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.
As a founding member of the Artist Blacksmiths Association of North America, I served on the board of directors as well as in the position of National Conference Chairman. I was one of ten invited Americans to participate in the first international Artist Blacksmiths' Conference in Hereford, Wales in 1980.
My studio/workshop in Stamford, CT has been in service as a blacksmith shop since 1850. I am one of eight blacksmiths to have worked in the historic building.