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Commissioned as part of the 1980s renovation and expansion of the President’s Guest House, blacksmith Joel Schwartz created a pair of ornamental railings to adorn the east and west balconies of the new courtyard addition. Known for his application of traditional smithing techniques to modern metal fabrication, Schwartz’s railings appropriate the artistic decoration of historic wrought iron railings while utilizing modern steel alloy construction. In this way, his work serves to connect the historic architecture of the Blair-Lee House with the modern addition. Inspired by the depth of involvement that traditional artisans have with the materials they handle, Schwartz handcrafted a series of twelve remarkably detailed, three-dimensional roses for the center panel of each railing.

Joel Schwartz studied design and metalworking at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (MFA, 1977) prior to opening Schwartz’s Forge & Metalworks, Inc. in 1977. A leader in the field of traditional metalwork, Schwartz has exhibited his creations at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C.