The School of Forging
Arts and crafts workshop
The first blacksmithing courses began in the 1970s, organized as a sort of workshop experience in which aspiring iron craftsmen learned how to handle traditional tools. These courses did not have a well-defined program, and the locations where the lessons were held varied greatly.
Audio - The School of Forging
This way of working continued in the following decades, supported by volunteers from the Association who repeatedly dreamed of creating a place in Casentino dedicated to teaching craftsmanship, with a permanent home for the Blacksmithing School. An important turning point came in 2014 when entrepreneur Mario Magni made his premises in Porrena available.
For five years, these premises hosted blacksmithing courses until, in 2019, the Municipality of Pratovecchio Stia won a tender from the Region of Tuscany for the creation of an “Arts and Crafts Laboratory” where the Blacksmithing School would find its permanent home. which was created by renovating an old railway building located near Stia Station.
The Association, aware of the need to provide training course participants with specific and comprehensive training, combining the learning of traditional techniques with an openness to the evolution and innovation requirements of modern art, has established a training program structured in courses of different levels, ranging from those aimed at providing basic technical training to advanced courses for blacksmiths who already have a comprehensive educational background.
The “Laboratorio di Arti e Mestieri” (Arts and Crafts Workshop), which houses the school and is equipped with 10 forges and all the necessary equipment, is a place for the transmission of knowledge, traditions, and professionalism, also aimed at offering interesting employment opportunities to young people through the learning of an ancient craft that is capable of evolving according to the needs and tastes of the contemporary world.
The creation of the Arts and Crafts Workshop also marked the completion of a fundamental process that led to the recognition, within the Regional Register of Professional Figures of the Region of Tuscany, of the professional figure of Design Technician, creation, and production of metal objects, including through forging. This will allow students to receive a Certificate of Attendance from the Forging School recognized by the Region of Tuscany.
The new Stia Forging School (arts and crafts workshop)
