by Pete Rosenbery
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Art students in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s School of Art and Design will host their free, annual fall cast iron pour, beginning at noon Saturday, Nov. 4.
Those attending will have the chance to create their own cast iron art pieces using scratch blocks, tiles comprising resin-bonded sand used in creating molds. The festivities will also include other activities, such as T-shirt printing and ceramic sales, throughout the day, as the sculpture, ceramics and printmaking areas within SIU collaborate. A small art gallery will be set up for viewing at the foundry complex, 1520-1560 W. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale. The pouring activity will continue until all pours are finished. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and guests are encouraged to bring their own seating.
More information on the iron pour is available on the School of Art and Design’s event website.
Olivia Warro, a Master of Fine Arts student in art, said the event is an opportunity to watch the casting process and behind-the-scenes work involved. Those attending will see a running furnace — fire and molten metal included — with hot iron poured into ladles, which SIU students then use to transfer the molten metal into molds. The goal is to increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of what goes into making cast iron artwork, Warro said.
Warro noted that since the fifth century B.C. pouring hot iron into casting molds “has been a trademark of art and industry. From fabulous architectural feats to one-of-a-kind objects meant for gallery display, iron’s range of uses is seemingly limitless.”