• In Town — Los Angeles and environs

Extravagant forms of iron accouterments, held as dance staffs or worn as adornment, have been used by communities in coming-of-age ceremonies and to mark the transition from adulthood to death (and ancestor status). Fowler Museum director and exhibition co-curator Marla C. Berns links these transformative events to the blacksmith’s processes, looking at an array of forged works from West and Central Africa on view in Striking Iron.