Philip Simmons - Definition and Overview

Philip Simmons, b. June 9, 1912 is an artisan of Charleston, South Carolina who has specialized in ornamental iron since 1938. After an apprenticeship with Peter Simmons, a blacksmith on Calhoun Street, he has had a long career, fashioning more than five hundred decorative pieces of ornamental wrought iron: gates, fences, balconies, and window grills. Many of the works are on historical properties. He has apprenticed many younger artisans and the Philip Simmons Artist-Blacksmith Guild of South Carolina is named in his honor.

Awards

• 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts, National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor that the United States can bestow on a traditional artist.

• 1982, Lifetime Achievement Award, South Carolina state legislature for "lifetime achievement" and commissions for public sculptures by the South Carolina State Museum and the city of Charleston

• 1994, South Carolina Hall of Fame, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

• 1998, Order of the Palmetto, the highest award given in South Carolina, by Governor David Beasley

• 2001, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Award for "Lifetime Achievement in the Arts."

Works

• Much of the ironwork in the Historic District of Charleston

• National Museum of American History

• Smithsonian Institution

• Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico

• Richland County Public Library, Columbia, South Carolina

• Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, Georgia

• Daniel Island Company, Daniel Island, South Carolina