New Orleans blacksmith preserves centuries-old ironwork tradition
Third-generation metal worker Darryl Reeves restores historic ironwork and trains new apprentices in traditional craft
NEW ORLEANS (InvestigateTV) — In New Orleans, the city’s architecture is often framed in iron. Centuries of old balconies, fences and gates have survived fires and hurricanes.
At Andrew’s Welding and Blacksmith Shop, Darryl Reeves is one of the few who still carry on the tradition. His grandfather was a blacksmith as well.
Reeves remembers being shooed away as a boy from his grandfather’s shop in Donaldsonville. But the memory of the blacksmith stuck with him.
“We used to just pass through and just watch these guys beat on this metal with the sparks and all,” Reeves said. “I think that had a lot of influence with me enjoying to work with metal.”
Crafting iron by hand
Reeves said he loves taking a raw piece of metal and transforming it.
“That’s my love. That’s what gives me joy,” Reeves said. “How many people get to beat on metal, especially if you’re frustrated with something and get it out. How many people do that?”
From iron hinges to hand-forged designs like metal leaves, Reeves makes what he needs, including his ironworking tools.
Reeves has restored historic ironwork throughout New Orleans, including the fence in front of the Cabildo, using plans dating back to the 1790s.
“That’s learning from the past. That’s given a conversation with the person that actually fabricated it,” Reeves said.
Training the next generation
A younger generation is learning from Reeves.
His apprentice, Karina Roca, moved to New Orleans from Boston.
“Well, I’ve always secretly wanted to be an iron worker,” Roca said. “And then I saw a PBS program on Darryl Reeves over 10 years ago at this point, and I was like, ‘Yep, I’m going to study under that guy.’”
Roca is working on a master’s degree in historic preservation at Tulane. She has been working in the blacksmith shop for five years.
“It works in so many ways to kind of keep this aesthetic of New Orleans alive,” Roca said. “It’s very Spanish. It’s very West African. It’s very French. So it’s sort of this symbol, this beacon of a space where all of these cultures have come together for centuries now.”
Many of the artists who forged New Orleans’ decorative hardware were free or enslaved Black ironworkers who brought skills developed over centuries in their native countries.
“Everybody’s looking at them as pretty designs. You have these symbols,” Reeves said. He said the symbols have meaning.
For Reeves, blacksmithing is more than bending metal. It’s preserving history, culture and the spirit of New Orleans, one hand-forged piece at a time.
Reeves is a part of the New Orleans Master Crafts Guild, an organization that seeks to revive the traditional building trades and provide apprenticeships for new generations of craftspeople.
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