Metal Museum Repair Days

By Phoebe Lusk-Hussong

This weekend, the Metal Museum is holding its annual Repair Days. This event has something to offer for everyone, so read more to learn about it. ​

This weekend, the Metal Museum will be hosting the 38th annual Repair Days. Every year since its founding in 1979, the Metal Museum has held a weekend for the metalsmithing community to join together to repair people’s damaged metal work and raise money for the museum. The volunteers can repair anything from boats to a dull knife or garden tool. Along with this, Repair Days is a four-day event where people can become informed about metal work, make their own jewelry, and watch metalsmiths from around the country work on intriguing projects.

        The event started on Thursday, September 22nd, and it will continue through Sunday. While repairs happen daily, Saturday is Family Fun Day where families can participate in a scavenger, make jewelry, or design scratch blocks or doodle bowls. From 2 pm to 4 pm, Opera Memphis will perform at the event, while artists host an iron pour. During this time, people are encouraged to stay to watch iron be poured into various creations from the day.
Each year, the museum choses a Master Metalsmith to honor during the event. This year, Hoss Haley is celebrated as the featured Master Metalsmith, and the Metal Museum will display his art until December 30. Haley creates large sculptures of steel, concrete, and bronze that are both funky and sophisticated. These sculptures can be found inside the museum’s gallery as well as across the grounds.
​
Repair Days offers a little for everyone. You can learn about metalworking, get broken metal pieces fixed, make a piece of jewelry, view an incredible installation, or just watch barges float down the Mississippi. As the museum director Carissa Hussong, mother of Grayson and Phoebe Lusk-Hussong, put it, “It’s its own kind of crazy organic event. It’s a fun event. It’s a different way to see the museum.”