Entry No. 59 — the Missoula file — filed under: hands-on

MUD Project (Missoula Urban Demonstration Project) Blacksmithing Workshop

The MUD Project (Missoula Urban Demonstration Project) is a nonprofit tool library and skills hub that runs 20-30 hands-on sustainability workshops a year, and its long-running blacksmithing class is a local favorite. Instructor Mark Vander Meer, who has smithed for more than 30 years and led the MUD workshop for about a decade, walks small groups through lighting the forge, heating iron, and using anvil, hammer, and tongs to transform a raw spike into a finished coat hook. The class runs at Vander Meer's home forge in north Missoula (not MUD's Wyoming St tool library), and registration goes through MUD. It is a genuine locals-know community-built program, not a tourist attraction.

The move: Catch the next blacksmithing workshop on MUD's calendar and forge matching iron coat hooks to take home and hang side by side.

📍 Before you go Workshops are offered on rotating dates a few times a year, not on demand; watch the MUD workshops calendar and register early since spots are limited.

• 📍 Missoula
• 💸 $$
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: 1527 Wyoming St, Missoula, MT 59801

Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.

⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

last checked: 2026-06-24