Carrying the Torch

Forget about curling up on a fur rug with a cup of egg nog. Students at the Los Angeles Academy of Metal Arts have discovered a better way to relax by the fire.

Standing by a blazing hot charcoal oven, Gloria pounds a rod of steel with a mallet. The metal is glowing red--the color of a watermelon Jolly Rancher. Soot streaks her cheeks like war paint while sparks fly through puffs of metallic smoke and classical music strains to be heard through the din of the workshop. Gloria is learning to master the art of forging.

“It’s a good workout,” she says. “I always get really sweaty.”

Every Tuesday night, Santini Iron Works opens its doors for the Academy’s fall course in introductory wrought-iron crafting and welding. Founded two years ago by Tom Polanski, a UCLA architect, and furniture designer K.T. Reilly, the Academy is an accessible and welcoming arena for people to explore metal arts.

“Most people have no experience when they walk in the door,” Polanski says. “But they tend to be [artistically] predisposed. And they really enjoy getting in touch with the materials [and] taking something tangible home.”

Polanski and Reilly printed posters featuring Rosie the Riveter with hopes of enlisting enough women to warrant an all-female welding night.

“We want to create a testosterone-free, nonmacho, atypical shop experience for women,” Polanski explains. He says that about seven or eight women need to sign up before a second night can be added.

“I think it’s a great idea,” says Keri Morton, flipping the enormous welding headgear over her face. Morton, an architecture student, is fashioning a delicate candleholder out of found pieces of metal. In a boutique, her art would probably cost $50, but the catharsis of bending steel at will is priceless.

In addition to forging and welding, students are taught to use the plasma cutter--a free-hand tool that employs electrified compressed gas to liquefy steel. Tuition for the eight-week course is $200. Polanski recommends about $25 worth of safety equipment. All other materials are supplied or found by the wayside.

Polanski says that drop-ins are welcome. His goal is simple: “Take the mystery and fear out of what most people take to be crazy, scary tools.

“No one is being taught to forge anymore,” Polanski laments. “But people who come here don’t think about the fact that they are preserving an age-old art form. They just think of it as a way to release aggression. They pretend the steel is their boss.”