Artist Blacksmith Association of America Information
Posted on December 25, 2008 - Filed Under Business | Leave a Comment
Blacksmithing is becoming a very popular hobby. Learn about
the Artist Blacksmith Association of America.
ABANA is America's umbrella organization of artist
blacksmiths and has affiliate organizations in all part of America as well as
associations with similar organization in other parts of the world. ABANA is a
non profit organization managed by an elected board of directors and today has
a membership of over 5000 artist blacksmiths. It provides a range of services
to its members including organizing conferences, workshops and seminars,
educational courses and programs on blacksmith art, organizing exhibitions of
members' work, help in locating suppliers and much more. ABANA members who buy
from ABANA supported suppliers and entitled to a 5% discount on the value of
item bought. ABANA is an active and progressive association and counts among it
members nearly, if not all, the major blacksmith artists in America.
ABANA was born in 1973 when a Blacksmiths' Convention was
held in Georgia which was attended by 47 delegates from all over the country.
Late on the first night of the conference, after the day's formal proceedings
had ended, a group of blacksmith artists got together for an informal chat and
the subject turned to the benefits of sharing knowledge and experiences between
themselves. There were about eight people
in the group and for each one who gave the others some useful hint or tip that
helped the others improve their art, at least 7 useful bits of information were
given in return. At the end of the discussion, one of the members returned to
his room but could not get to sleep as the germ of an idea about forming a
regular association of blacksmith artists was taking shape in his mind. Not
wanting to let in go, he started writing down his ideas and before going to
sleep in the early hours of the morning, had the basic outline of how the association
would be structured and operate.
The next day, as the convention was breaking for lunch the
proposal for starting an artist blacksmith's association was conveyed to the
participants. The words of Alex Bealer, who convened the 1973 convention and
who became the first president of ABANA, as gave an extremely insipiring
sppech , which can be found in the ABANA website.
This moving expression of the nature of the blacksmith art
was enough to immediately prompt 20 of those present to become the founding members
of the organization. 27 more joined soon after and within a year membership
stood at over 100 and in ten years reached over 2000. At present the membership
is increasing by over 300 a year which demonstrates both the growth of
blacksmith art and the vital role that ABANA is playing in supporting and
developing the artist blacksmith.
ABANA Chapters have mushroomed in various parts of the US
and is only growing in popularity.
Moreover its spreading to other countries as well. In fact the latest of
ABANA's affliliate group is an Australian counterpart. All informtation about
the ABANA can also be found at their website online.
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