Mountain Forge

Gatekeeper’s Museaum | Tahoe City | June 22-Aug. 31 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | northtahoemuseums.org

Olympic House | Olympic Valley | June 23 7 p.m. | communityofwriters.org

Tahoe Art League | S.Lake Tahoe | June 23-26 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | talart.org

Word After Word Books | Truckee | June 24 6:30 p.m. | facebook.com

Elevation Truckee | Truckee | June 24 11 a.m.-6 p.m. | (530) 386-0890, facebook.com

Truckee Roundhouse | Truckee | June 25-Nov. 26 1-1:45 p.m. | truckeeroundhouse.org

N. Tahoe Arts Center | Kings Beach | June 25 1-3 p.m. | (530) 581-2787, checkout.square.site

Truckee Roundhouse | Truckee | June 26 11 a.m.-5 p.m. | chamber.truckee.com

NTA Center | Kings Beach | June 26 msising stuff here...

Tahoe Art League Gallery | South Lake Tahoe | June 30-Aug. 28 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | talart.org

Muse: Art Reclaimed | Tahoe City | July 1, Aug. 5 & Sept. 2 4-9 p.m. | museartreclaimed.com

area venues | S. Lake Tahoe | July 1-Aug. 5 1-4 p.m. | ltcc.asapconnected.com

Visit TheTahoeWeekly.com to add your Event for our print & online calendars.

creative awareness | arts & culture | makers’ movement

BY PRIYA HUTNER | PHOTOS COURTESY MOUNTAIN FORGE

Functional art residential entry gate. | Mountain Forge

Imagine a hot fire, glowing molten ore and sparks flying from steel being forged into a new creation. This is the work done by blacksmiths at Mountain Forge, who have been forging metal since 1968. Founded by Hans Standteiner, the operation is now owned and operated by his son Toni and daughter-in-law Jennifer. Mountain Forge creates highend functional art and craft entry gates, railings, light fixtures and fireplace doors for residential homes. “Mountain Forge is the grandfather of the blacksmith industry here in Tahoe. We were the first, oldest and we’re the largest,” says Jennifer Standteiner. The blacksmiths at Mountain Forge still use traditional methods. They often begin their projects with pen and ink drawings. “We still do things the old-fashioned way. We forge with natural gas now instead of coal. We use power hammers instead of team strikers. This requires two people. One striking with hammers while one person holds the piece being manipulated,” she says. Everything is made by hand including the tools needed to craft their pieces. Journeymen come from around the world come to learn from the blacksmiths at Mountain Forge. In the last few years, Mountain Forge has turned its attention and passion toward public art, leading the way for several art installations in the area. The family business collaborates with local and regional artists. “When we took over the business 20 years ago, we said, ‘You know what? What about just making art for art’s sake?’ I think that Mountain Forge really did a lot to kick off the public art movement in our community,” she says. One of their public art installations entitled “Time” is displayed by the Truckee Tahoe Airport on Soaring Way. “We’ve collaborated with Sara Smith to create an art piece for the aquatic center at the Truckee Rec Center and provided structural support for Troy Corliss’ flowers in the roundabout,” says Standteiner. They have collaborated with Italian artists Daniela Garofalo and Dominic Panziera of Arteclettica. The piece entitled “Individuality N. 1” has been displayed at the Reno Sculpture Festival, Burning Man and at a sculpture garden in San Diego. The piece will now live at Piper J Gallery in Truckee until it sells. Other art installations include a train platform located in Truckee River Regional Park entitled, “Bridging Communities.” “We teamed up with Truckee Donner Railroad Society, the Truckee Donner Historical Society, and Truckee-Donner Recreation and Parks District. We used the steel from San Francisco Bay Bridge. It’s the original 1936 construction steel. This steel is historical,” she says. A steel bear that sits outside Raley’s Supermarket in Truckee is also a creation of Mountain Forge. Mountain Forge also plays supports other artists in their creative endeavors. “We see our job in the community as longtime artists in the community, helping and contributing to the overall landscape of our community. And that means building up other artists. That means collaborating. That means drawing people in to do more incredible things in this community,” she says.

At the heart of this family business, they remain true to their blacksmith roots. “We are also the village blacksmith. We repair people’s broken deck furniture and trailer hitches — whatever needs to be done,” she says. Mountain Forge was recently awarded the contract to create the trophies for the Barracuda Championship at Old Greenwood in July and is currently working on future public art installations. | mtnforge.com/#1 n

“We see our job in the community as … helping and contributing to the overall landscape … And that means building up other artists. That means collaborating. That means drawing people in to do more incredible things in this community.” - Jennifer Standteiner