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	Whit Hanschka brings a lifelong fascination with metal and fire to his work as an artist-blacksmith. After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in mechanical engineering, he combined his technical skills and love of sailing to build classic wooden boats at the Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway in Vineyard Haven, Masssachusetts. There, he also began crafting bronze boat hardware. He later taught boatbuilding and woodworking at the Penikese Island School in Buzzards Bay, a wilderness- based residential program for juvenile delinquents. Looking for ways to engage his students on an island with no electricity, he assembled a working forge and began to learn and teach blacksmithing. Whit opened his own metalworking shop on Martha’s Vineyard in 1996. He specializes in custom ornamental wrought iron, bronze and stainless steel, creating hand-forged work for architects, builders, interior designers, landscape architects and private clients. His commissioned work includes fireplace screens, railings, gates, fences, architectural hardware, sign brackets, lighting fixtures, furniture, traditional marine hardware and specialty pieces. His work has been published in Architectural Digest, Veranda, Hearth & Home, Vineyard Gazette, Martha’s Vineyard Home & Garden, Martha’s Vineyard Times and Vineyard Style, and is featured in the book Stone by Design by Lew French. He is an active member of the Artist-Blacksmith Association of North America (ABANA) and New England Blacksmiths (NEB).