Blacksmiths get MFAs?: Haley Woodward
In the 59th of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown sits down with Blacksmith Haley Woodward during his trip to Philadelphia in July of 2021. At that time, Haley was spending the summer traveling and teaching workshops at various craft schools.
The two friends caught up and discussed why community colleges are a great place to start in academia, finding lifelong friends through craft, tiny shiny - black and scaley, why a blacksmith would decide to get an MFA and where that can happen.
Thank you Haley for your patience with the release of this insightful interview!
Haley Woodward is based in Austin, Texas. Since 2018 is has been the Professor of Architectural and ornamental blacksmithing at Austin Community College. Haley received his Master of Fine Arts in Blacksmithing at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
As a blacksmith, steel, iron, and brass give me a pallet of colors, textures, and physical properties to work with. Each material comes with its own long history within the context of the human experience. They are complex, rewarding materials that I continue to evolve with as a metalworker.
My work starts as technical challenges and investigations into the process of blacksmithing. When new forms and process become illuminated, new sculptural ideas tend to follow. More often then not, this leads to more technical challenges and the drama continues. Technique inspired by the work, and work inspired by technique.
