Last week, I was in Birmingham, Alabama, for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art & Practices (NCCCIAP). The backdrop for this biennial event was Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, a truly a remarkable venue that stands out as America’s only blast furnace from the last century being preserved and interpreted as an historic industrial site. There was a great slate of activities for the NCCCIAP, including hands-on demonstrations, mold making workshops, student cupola competitions, guest furnace demonstrations, panel discussions, and art exhibitions. The grassroots, intergenerational character of the NCCCIAP was incredibly inspiring, and I hope to get back to Sloss for the next iteration of this event.
-
-
Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
-
-
Visitor’s center at Sloss
-
-
Flurry of activity in Casting Shed #2
-
-
-
-
Large production furnace in Casting Shed #2
-
-
-
-
-
“Wakey Wakey” by MESH Collective Art
-
-
This performance by Joe McCreary, Healther Spencer Holmes, Micheal Bonadio, and Holly Reese, featured a feast cooked on a giant cast iron skillet
-
-
-
Giant skillet = equally giant spatula
-
-
Sand mold fabrication in the casting shed
-
-
Aaran Schmidt working on a large mold
-
-
Kurt Dyrhaug and Jeremy Entwistle setting up the Texas Atomic Iron Commission’s guest furnace
-
-
Apollo 11 guest furnace
-
-
Charlie Scott, Ed Parrish Jr., and Jeremy Entwistle look on while the furnace goes under blast
-
-
Charlie Scott and Kurt Dyrhaug
-
-
Kurt tapping the furnace
-
-
Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
-
-
Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
-
-
Charlie skimming while the pour team fills molds
-
-
Texas Atomic Iron Commission pour crew
-
-
“Women at Work” performance by Lisa Evans
-
-
This performance piece dealt with gender roles , domestication, and stereotypes
-
-
-
-
Participants pouring molten iron into a running washing machine
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
“The Digital Impact,” a panel discussion chaired by Teresa Lind, featuring McArthur Freeman, Frankie Flood, Mary Neubauer, and Ken Payne
-
-
Keynote address by Jack Gron
-
-
Curated Professional Exhibition in the Sloss Visitor’s Center, featuring works from the expanding cast iron community
-
-
Jack Gron, “Surfin’ Outta Sparkle City”
-
-
-
Allen Peterson, “Let’s All Be Beekeepers When We Grow Up”
-
-
-
My sculpture “Nothing Happened #1”
-
-
Kurt Dyrhaug, “Tonka 52”
-
-
Michael “Bones” Bonadio, “Monkey in the Middle”
-
-
Adam Bodine, “What You Say”
-
-
-
Keith Kaziak, “The Mighty Samson (isolated as Sylvester)”
-
-
-
Nicole Bovasso, “Caedite, Vexate, Ligate Vinculis”
-
-
-
-
Tanner Hoffman, “Liminality”
-
-
-
Aaran Schmidt, “Untitled”
-
-
-
-
Joel Weissman, “Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrant (abandon all hope)”
-
-
-
-
Christyn L. Overstake, “#63.4/9/2016: 38.0406 N, 84.5037 W. Two Four”
-
-
-
-
Jeremy Entwistle, “Weighting”
-
-
Tobias Flores, “We Built This Country With Hammers and Boob Sweat”
-
-
-
Robbie Barber, “Ferox”
-
-
-
Scott Marini, “Home of The Brave Series IV”
-
-
-
Steven Torres, “All American Anchor”
-
-
Michael Louis LeBlanc, “Key to My Heart/Whitney Polich”
-
-
Luke Sides, “Cupcake”
-
-
Ben Woodeson, “Run don’t walk…”
-
-
This sculpture was part of the Juried Exhibition at the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Project Space Gallery
-
-
-
Kelly Wilton, “Pile (Variation)”
-
-
David Fricke, “An Implement of Social Cultivation”
-
-
-
-
Erin Cunningham, “Knee”
-
-
-
Cassidy Frye, “Won’t Let You Leave”
-
-
Delany Bal, University of Kentucky, “Blood on the Risers”
-
-
This sculpture was part of the Curated Student Exhibition at Space One Eleven, a non-profit gallery in downtown Birmingham
-
-
Alex Townsend, University of Southern Mississippi, “The Pieces That Hold Us Together”
-
-
Jennifer Allen, University of Alabama at Birmingham, “Level Headed”
-
-
-
Curtis Turner, MassArt, “Self-portrait”
-
-
Payton Reedy, University of Southern Mississippi, “Cycle”
-
-
Christen Parker, University of Mississippi, “Two Headed Boy”
-
-
View of Sloss’s iconic skyline
-
-
-
-
-
-
Beautiful abandoned excavator in the Sloss landscape
-
-
-
Detail view of excavator bucket
-
-
-
-
Sculptures such as this dot the landscape at Sloss
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Old casting ladles outside the Visitor’s Center
-
-
-
Side view of Casting Shed #2
-
-
-
-
-
View from the Furnace Apron
-
-
-
-
Large tuyeres for the blast furnace
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
View from the Blowing Engine Room
-
-
-
Wood patterns in the engine room
-
-
-
-
-
-
Scenes from the engine room
-
-
-
-
Largest wrench ever in the engine room
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Amazing rust patterns on the machinery
-
-
-
Didactics outlining history of iron production at Sloss
-
-
-
-
Ladle car for transporting molten iron
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Old tools in Casting Shed #1
-
-
Amazing murals from Sloss’s heyday under the Eastern Viaduct of the highway
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
