Originally from Springfield, Missouri, Kevin Burge graduated from Missouri State University in 2006. In addition to making jewelry, silverware, and other fine metalwork, he currently heads our Repairs and Restoration Lab. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Arts Memphis and Missouri State University.

James Vanderpool joined the Metal Museum in 2014 as the Foundry Operations Manager. James came to Memphis by way of Lexington, KY, where he taught studio art at The University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University. James holds his MFA in sculpture from Georgia State University, where he specialized in foundry and woodworking. James personal practice focuses on industrial objects and topography. 

Reed Peck-Kriss is an artist-blacksmith from Oakland, CA. He built his first forge in his backyard at the age of 12, using vise-grips for tongs and the largest square of steel he could get from the scrapyard for an anvil. Largely self-taught, Reed has worked as a blacksmithing instructor at The Crucible, an industrial arts education center in Oakland, and as the resident blacksmith at Ardenwood Historic Farm. Reed is drawn to organic sculptural forms as well as classical Colonial American ironworking styles.