The annual Iron Pour took place Nov. 9, 2024 at the Art Foundry in Carbondale Illinois with a turnout despite the rain. People from the Carbondale community and beyond came to participate and watch the casts be filled. Visitors also were able to see blacksmithing and printmaking.
Alex Lopez said that the Iron Pour has been happening annually at SIU for many years now. “The iron pour’s been happening since before I got here in 2005,” Lopez said. “We’ve been doing it since 2005, but it goes as far back as I believe 1967.”
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Several groups came together to make this event happen this year. “The Iron Pour is really made in conjunction with the sculpture program and Critical Forum,” Lopez said. Critical Forum is a sculpture club that is a registered student organization for graduates and undergraduates at SIU.
The funds from the Iron Pour go to the students to offset some of the costs of supplies. “We work together,” Lopez said. “We sell the scratch tiles which helps offset the costs or keeps the costs lower for the students to continue casting in bronze, iron, or aluminum.”
But there were also students from other universities, volunteers, and returning professionals who came to help out at the event as well. Cassandra Rebman, who teaches the sculpture curriculum at Western Kentucky University came to the event with three students. Rebman said that this was their first time coming to SIU for the Iron Pour.
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Laura Mullen also was a guest at the event. Mullen runs a YouTube channel called the Iron Gypsy which has over 44,000 subscribers.
Kristy Summers also attended the event as a visiting artist. “Well, they invited me to the event,” Summers said. She said that she used to teach sculpture at SIU almost 10 years ago. Now, she creates art across the United States. “I work in between Bernad, Maine and Bristol Bay, Alaska,” Summers said.
From molten iron to blacksmithing to printmaking, the Iron Pour brought together a diverse group of artists from across the United States and raised funds for the Art Foundry. “It’s community building,” Lopez said.
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