Possible Lecture’s for the MSG Annual Meeting:
Scott Lankton – Ann Arbor
Website: http://www.scottlankton.com/lanktongallery.html
Scott Lankton was born in Midland, Michigan in 1956. He
received his B.F.A. from Western Michigan University in 1978. He
opened his own studio in 1979. In 1985 he went to Aachen,
Germany and received his Diploma at The International Teaching
Center for Metal Design where he apprenticed under Manfred
Bredohl.
Today he works as a studio artist mostly doing architectural
commissions in steel and bronze such as stair railings, gates,
furniture, kitchen racks, and sculpture. Recent projects include
180 feet of dogwood motif railing in steel and bronze, forging
handguns into artwork, and a large hanging sculpture for a cancer
center.
In the past, the British Museum commissioned him to replicate the pattern welded sword from the Sutton Hoo Ship
Burial (dated near 600 A.D.) This sword, made in 1989, is now permanently displayed in London alongside the
original.
He has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Peter’s Valley Craft Center in New Jersey,
Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN, and Tillers International, Kalamazoo, MI. He has lead many workshops
and demonstrated and lectured at national and international conferences such as, ABANA, Ferro 2000, and Ferro
2005 in Europe.
He was President, Vice President, and Financial Chair of ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America.
He served on their Board of Directors for nine years.
According to Lankton, “the spontaneity of forging hot steel continues to delight me as does the strength and integrity
of this medium. I am fascinated by the duality of beauty and danger that that life combines and I hope that through my
work, the lives of others will be made a bit more beautiful.”
Anne Mondro – Ann Arbor
Website: http://www.annemondro.com/
Anne Mondro received her BFA at College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and completed her MFA at Kent State
University before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to pursue a career as an artist and professor at University of
Michigan.
Her work explores the physical and emotional complexity of the human body. Integrating
traditional craft, fine art, and digital technology, she creates images and sculptures that
investigate humanity.
Mondro has shown her creative work in several national exhibitions including The Edges
of Grace: Provocative, Uncommon Craft at the Fuller Craft Museum and Life Insight: The
Human Experience at the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft. Currently her work is on
display at Love Lace: International Lace Exhibition in Sydney, Australia.
Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art,
ARC Gallery in Chicago,the International Museum of Surgical Science, PIU Gallery in
São Paulo, and Ceres Gallery in NYC.
In addition to her studio practice, Mondro has provided numerous artist lectures and workshops. These have included
presentations at the Fashion Imaging Department at Ming Dao University in Taiwan, the Society for the Arts in
Healthcare 16th Annual Conference, and Kendall College of Art & Design.
Michael Wolf – Ann Arbor
Website: http://designsiniron.com/cw.htm
In 1997, Michael Wolfe, Blacksmith,moved to an eight-acre farm and opened his door as an architectural
blacksmith. He had been working as an assistant to a blacksmith for eleven years while operating Precision
Photographics, Inc., a custom photographic laboratory. After twenty-two years, and 36 employees, he sold the lab,
and he now works in his studio, called “Designs in Iron”, doing hand-forged and hand-fabricated ironwork. He has
been working on commissions since the day he started, forging railings, gates, and other metal work including handforged flowers.
Michael has always loved working with his hands. As a young man in junior high school, he had his first experience in
a wood and metal shop. Even while he was running Precision Photographics, he looked forward to the evening hours
when he could get in the shop to do his woodworking and woodturning. This hands-on work evolved into metal work,
where his passion was found. Of this medium, Wolfe says:
“The fluidity of hot metal and my ability to control its movement was
so exhilarating that after 20 years hand forging has not lost its
excitement. There is a magic thing that happens when you have a
pair of tongs in one hand and a hammer in the other and you
remove the hot metal from the forge and place it on the anvil and
hammer the metal into a piece of art.”
His enthusiasm and knowledge has led many people from varying
backgrounds to Mike’s studio on Park Road. He collaborates with architects, designers, many artists, and even Laurie
Anderson, the celebrated performance artist, visited and forged in the studio. His work can befound throughout the
area in private residences, restaurants, and galleries.
SmithShop (Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks) – Detroit
Website: http://www.smithshopdetroit.com/
Founded in 2012, Smith Shop is a dynamic craft-centric metalworking company based in
Detroit, Michigan. Smith Shop produces quality metalwork of all descriptions specializing in
the custom fabrication of gold, silver, copper, brass and steel while also producing limitedproduction wholesale runs ranging from jewelry to architectural hardware. In addition to its
manufacturing business, Smith Shop offers access to its metalworking facilities
at Ponyride (a noted Detroit creative entrepreneurial space) through classes, workshops,
private lessons and studio rentals. Smith Shop’s founders have exhibited their metalwork
nationally and internationally in such prominent venues as the Renwick Gallery of
Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Bellevue Arts Museum in
Bellevue, Washington, The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston,
Texas and Galerie Marzee in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Smith Shop is Kate
Bordine, Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks.
If you would like to work with us drop us a line at smithshopdetroit [at] gmail [dot]
com
Pam Thomford
http://pamelamorristhomford.com/
Pamela Morris Thomford is an independent jeweler and metalsmith who
works from her studio in Perrysburg, Ohio. She studied American and European literature and
received a BA degree from Denison University.
After raising four children, she resumed her education with studies in
Ceramics, at the University of Toledo, and Jewelry and Metals, at Bowling Green State University.
Pam has exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally. She has participated in exhibitions
in San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and New
York, as well as England, Portugal, Norway and Japan. Her work has
been included in many art and instructional publications.
Perhaps an influence of her literary background, Pam works in a narrative style. Using sterling,
copper and bronze, she incorporates a variety of
found objects to create not only one-of-a-kind art jewelry and small
sculptures, but also non-traditional objects of faith.