Blacksmithing is the ancient craft of heating iron to incandescence and shaping it by hammer. For thousands of years it was the blacksmith who made our tools, farm implements, household goods, and more. This summer Boothbay Railway Village is offering workshops at the village forge with resident blacksmith Jim Kearney. In each three-hour workshop students will practice basic hammer motions, drawing out, bending, and scrolling. Students will have made a small hook or other object by the end of the session.

Workshops are offered on Thursday, June 22, Thursday, July 20, Tuesday, Aug. 8, and Tuesday, Sept. 12. Choose a morning session from 9 a.m. to noon, or an afternoon session from 1 to 4 p.m. Class size is limited to two. Workshop fee is $90 for Railway Village members, $95 non-members. Register online https://railwayvillage.org/explore/artisandays/jim-kearney/ or call us at 207-633-4727. Workshop fee includes museum admission.

Jim Kearney demonstrates blacksmithing at the forge every Wednesday through October 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as part of the Village’s Artisan Days program of craft demonstrations. Kearney started blacksmithing in 1976 and has worked and studied in Ireland, and in Germany where blacksmithing is regarded as high art. Jim forges stone-working tools, rigging hardware for sailing vessels, and fine architectural hardware. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and in galleries across the country.

Boothbay Railway Village is located at 586 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay. For more information visit www.railwayvillage.org or call 207-633-4727.