Here is the list of activities by title. Click on html version (ideal for viewing any video) or pdf version (which is ideal for printing out the images).

• What is a Blacksmith? - history of an art form (html) (pdf)
• Art or Craft? - blacksmithing then and now (html) (pdf)
• Artists are Influenced by other Artists:
• Part 1: Who Influenced Brent Kington? (html) (pdf)
• Part 2: Whom did Brent Kington Influence?
  (html) (pdf)
• Kinetic Sculpture
  (html) (pdf)

National Art Standards for grades 7-8 students addressed in this lesson:

Illinois Visual Arts Standards for grades 7-8 and 9-10 students addressed in this lesson:

Lesson Plan: Influences 2

Inspiration: Here is a quote from Kington's oral history interview of 2001 (Smithsonian Archives) (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/kingto01.htm )

“Richard (Mawdsley) and I have always encouraged students in self-directed research. As an example, Mary Lee Hu, (https://www.flintridgefoundation.org/visualarts/recipients20012002_maryleehu.html)

when she was here, she was taking a weaving class, and she was having problems finding anything personal to express in her metalwork. I'd been experimenting with weaving metal wires. I found the results interesting, but it bored me, so I badgered her into working with wire. That was when she got to wire structuring. I would make suggestions to students and push them if I thought a process or concept was suitable; or if they had areas of interest that appeared worth exploring, I would make suggestions and try to encourage the students into pursuing it. Some of our students have become very closely identified with a concept or process. ”

Goal: Students will demonstrate their understanding of artistic influences by viewing the work of a teacher and his students, looking for visual or technical influences and discussing them.

Concepts: 1) artists are influenced by other artists' ideas; 2) artists are influenced by other artists' techniques and materials; 3) artists are influenced by their own culture and other cultures

Pre-test and Post-test questions to answer and keep in mind as you look at various blacksmith's work:

• What does a student learn from his/her teachers? (skill, technique, work ethic, style, use of material, knowledge)
• Does student work ever look like the work of the teacher? Why or why not?
• Is it possible to tell by looking at the work that a student had a particular teacher? What do you look for? What might the student have learned that does not show up in the work itself?
• How can a teacher influence his students without their copying his/her style?

Web sites:

• L. Brent Kington - see the video segments produced by WTTW TV and gallery of Kington's work on this Web site
• Mary Lee Hu, jewelry maker, professor https://www.flintridgefoundation.org/visualarts/recipients20012002_maryleehu.html
• Harlan Butt, incredible vessels, professor https://www.harlanbutt.com/
• Daryl Meier, damascus knife maker
  https://meiersteel.com/
• James Wallace, Metal Museum, Memphis
  https://metalmuseum.americommerce.com/
• Phillip Baldwin, reactive metals; mokume gane
  https://www.shiningwave.com/
• Sarah Perkins, vessels
  https://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/sarah-perkins-enamelware.htm
• John Medwedeff, southern Illinois sculptor
  https://www.johnmedwedeff.com/index2.htm
• Arthur Johns, sculpture
  https://arthursforge.com/_wsn/page10.html

Look at these web sites to look for the characteristics, skills, style, materials, and aesthetic of metalsmiths who have studied under Brent Kington at SIUC.

Activity: Class discussion of the characteristics of Brent Kington's work. Compare and contrast the work you find online of the former students listed above. Are there any characteristics that are similar? style? use of materials? scale? attention to detail? general mood or feeling? Was there influence to go into education for any of them?