by Pete Rosenbery
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The work and precision that go into making sculptures from cast iron molds will be highlighted when students in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s School of Art and Design’s sculpture program host their free, annual fall cast iron pour, beginning at noon Saturday, Nov. 9.
The annual fall iron pour hosted by SIU Carbondale’s School of Art and Design is Nov. 9. (Photos by Alex Lopez)
The event will be held at the School of Art’s Foundry Complex at 1520-1560 W. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale. Those attending will have the chance to create their own cast iron artworks on scratch blocks comprising resin-bonded sand used in making molds. The festivities will include other activities, such as T-shirt printing by Southern Illinois Print Works and demonstrations from the blacksmithing department.
The pouring activity will continue until all the pours are finished. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs. The event is co-sponsored by Critical Forum, also known as C4, the sculpture club’s registered student organization.
Cybil Johnson, a second-year graduate student in SIU’s sculpture program, said that the iron pour offers “a glimpse of the amount of work that goes into making art.” It is also an activity that allows all ages a chance to participate.
“The process is laborious and intense; the heat, the movement and the lava-like iron pouring out is such a rush,” she said. “My favorite part is the younger generation’s eyes lighting up when the iron starts pouring out into the molds. When the public receives their finished product, they have a piece of SIU forever.”
Since the fifth century B.C., pouring hot iron into molds has been a trademark of art and industry. Iron’s range of uses is seemingly limitless, from fabulous architectural feats to one-of-a-kind objects meant for gallery display. 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.
Johnson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University Kokomo in 2023. She chose SIU Carbondale because the sculpture program is interdisciplinary and “incorporates metal fabricating, casting performance, video and sound, and woodworking techniques and methods.”
Another critical component in her decision was space. Johnson makes large outdoor fabricated public art sculptures, and “SIU has the tools and space to achieve such art.”
“The foundry was another reason I was attracted to the program,” Johnson said. “Learning to cast and be a part of the process has been a dream of mine.”
Watch a video of the 2023 Iron Pour.