Finding Ulysses

Press Release from the Ulysses Philomathic Library:
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Next in its 2007 speaker series, “The Creative Muse: Our Local Artists and Artisans Speak Out,” the Ulysses Philomathic Library welcomes world-renowned artist/blacksmith Durand Van Doren, proprietor of Durand’s Forge, offering a slide presentation on beautiful pieces of iron work. Van Doren’s award-winning art and utilitarian pieces are displayed in homes and galleries here and abroad, and adorn the gates of the Globe Theatre, outside of London.

Van Doren began his career in what he calls “a hippie commune in a small town near Cooperstown,” working for Silent Steam Iron Works, crafting wrought iron plant hooks; hanging plants had just become the darlings of home décor. He studied with master smith Frank Turley at his forge in New Mexico, and the day he returned to the Finger Lakes he established Durand’s Forge in a cowshed in Speedsville. He also worked for several years building George Rhoads’ kinetic sculptures, and has completed many commissions of his own, among them a large frog contemplating a shiny orb, centerpiece of a garden at Cayuga Medical Center, as well as a roomful of chandeliers at Cornell’s Willard Straight Hall. In addition to his work as an artist, Van Doren conducts several one-day workshops each year on the basics of blacksmithing at his Trumansburg forge.

He has donated to the Ulysses Philomathic Library, as a fund-raiser, a fanciful set of dragon-headed fire tools, whose retail value is $1,200. Prospective owners can purchase raffle tickets for $5 each, at the library.

The talk is scheduled for Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the library’s Melvin Community Room. The library is located at 74 East Main Street in Trumansburg. There is no charge for the event, and as always, refreshments will be served.