Tom Joyce (born 1956) is an American designer, and blacksmith living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since 1977 he has forged sculpture, architectural ironwork and public art for projects throughout the United States. Joyce infuses many of these works with meaning by celebrating the inherited histories represented by the material he uses, an idea borrowed from the sculptor Tom Waldron. In both public and private commissions, he encourages community members to participate in the making process by donating ferrous materials collected from the landscape or iron objects that hold particular significance to their owner.[1] From the Rio Grande Gates, forged from refuse retrieved from a quarter mile stretch of the river for the Albuquerque Museum of Art, to massive iron sculptures forged from industrial scrap, Joyce continues to re-examine the social, political, economic, and historical implications of using iron in his work.[2]
For over 30 years he has freely shared his design concepts and working knowledge with students through high school and college level internships, formal apprenticeships and currently, free classes for New Mexico youth.[3] Through lectures presented most recently in Ireland, England, Belgium, Italy, Finland, South Africa, Estonia and a steady stream of venues in the United States and Canada, Joyce shares his philosophy with others.[4]
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Life Experience. [5]
His work is in over 25 public collections and since 1981, has been exhibited in 146 solo and group exhibitions including at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Minneapolis Institute of Art; National Building Museum, Washington DC; Detroit Institute of Art; Houston Museum of Contemporary Craft; Boston Museum of Fine Art; New Mexico Museum of Art; Albuquerque Museum of Art; Luce Foundation Center for American Art; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina; National Metal Museum, Memphis, Tennessee; Museum of Applied Arts, Moscow, Russia; and Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France. [15]