College Honors Metalwork Artist Preston Farabow
The UT College of Arts and Sciences honored metal sculptor Preston Farabow (’94) in October with a 2024 Professional Achievement Award, which recognizes those who have accomplished a high degree of success in their chosen fields.
Farabow started Aespyre Metals in 1998 and is a leader among Knoxville creative artists and business owners. He creates not only sculptures but also metalwork furniture and features for homes and businesses.
Farabow entered the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, planning to study medicine but found the sculpture classes more fulfilling. He switched from a pre-med track to the College Scholars program, with an emphasis in sculpture, creative writing, philosophy, and anatomy.
“My home became the sculpture studio—a facility that rivals any other program in the country,” Farabow said. Although he had no metalwork experience before coming to UT, he later found during a genealogy search that the French origin of his last name, Ferrebeau, translates to “beautiful iron.” “Apparently it was in my blood,” he said.
Farabow opens his shop in Ironwood Studios to other artists, blacksmiths, and apprentices, and he has hosted numerous events there for the School of Art, including iron pours and installations of visiting artists.
“I truly believe that the success of my business is directly associated with the resources that exist because of the sculpture program at the UT School of Art,” he said. “We try to hold space here at my studio for an internship for a sculpture student.” Some of those internships have led to full-time positions, and over the years about half of Aespyre’s employees have come through UT’s sculpture program.
Farabow’s nonprofit educational venture, insPYRE, offers at-risk youth and students an opportunity to learn blacksmithing and metalworking skills too. To learn more about the nonprofit school of metalwork, to sign up for a class, or to make a donation, please visit https://www.inspyre.us/.
By Amy Beth Miller