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RED Metal Rising: Rachel David on Art as Activism in the Public Sphere

Go behind the scenes with sculptor Rachel David as she discusses transforming urban spaces, building resilience through art, and mentoring the next generation.

Morgan Laurens

• 4 min read
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RED Metal Rising: Rachel David on Art as Activism in the Public Sphere

​If you’ve ever rounded a corner in Asheville and come face-to-face with a monumental ripple of forged steel, chances are you’ve stumbled across the handiwork of Rachel David of RED Metal. In a city teeming with murals and microbreweries, her abstract public sculpture “Fluvial”—a centerpiece of ArtsvilleUSA’s Open // Air exhibition—refuses to be neatly filed away in the usual taxonomy of public art. Installed along the Urban Trail outside the old S&W Cafeteria and forged in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the piece is Rachel’s meditation on how water carves, erases, and remakes everything it touches.

In this episode, we explore what it takes to create art that belongs to everyone, from smashing through the old boys’ club of metalsmithing to designing with a community’s anxieties in mind. Along the way, Rachel recalls professors who nudged her off one path and onto another, wrestles with the realities of survival as a craftsperson, and muses on the power of public art in a city still haunted by the memory of a life-changing storm.

Highlights From Our Conversation With Rachel David

  • Why she resists the “blacksmith” label and the loaded baggage that comes with it
  • How Haywood Community College (and a heavy class load during the pandemic) changed her approach to projects, design, and risk-taking
  • From stone carving in college to welding boats in New Orleans: the winding route into metal
  • The life-altering impact of Hurricane Katrina, and how disasters forge connections between artists and communities
  • The nuts and bolts of designing for public vs. private spaces: navigating bureaucracy, developer quirks, and working with the city of Asheville
  • How her commitment to inclusivity shapes not just her art, but her hiring and mentoring in the field
  • Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths and SPARC: making space for those the industry has historically overlooked
  • Why showing up for neighbors (and sharing a handful of strawberries) might count as the most radical form of activism

Quotables

  • “Public art is both the culture and the conscience of the place that it is made for.” — Rachel David [27:04]
  • “My work tends to have something to say despite being abstract. And I think the abstraction is important…it’s a way of attempting to bring people who are curious closer together.” — Rachel David [33:46]
  • “It’s good to be small. Like, it’s good to just be where we are…bringing my neighbors some strawberries…that’s kind of what activism is.” — Rachel David [49:17]

Mentions & Connections

Get Involved / Where to Find More

Contact & Social

  • Website: www.redmetal.net
  • Instagram: @__redmetal__
  • Facebook: @redmetal1245

Episode Credits

Clockwise from top left: 'Fluvial' on the Urban Trail; 'Overreach'; 'Weft'; 'To One End' bench-sit.