This weeklong workshop is intended for the creation of numerous small molds and features extended shop time onsite at the Carrie Blast Furnaces and in-depth instruction / assistance catered to the needs of each individual. Participants will have the chance to learn and experiment with multiple pattern-making materials and create multiple sand molds that will be cast during the annual Festival of Combustion on October 8th, 2022.

Prior experience or Intro to Iron Casting is recommended. Registration includes access to the Carrie Furnaces foundry daily between 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and the ultimate experience of participating in an iron pour from a coke fired cupola—just like the historic furnaces onsite!

All items for this workshop will be cast during the Festival of Combustion on Saturday, October 8, 1 – 8 p.m.  Cooled castings can be picked up the following Sunday 10 a.m. – 3 .p.m.

Weeklong Iron Intensive workshops include up to 400 lbs. of sand and corresponding chemical, waste removal and related foundry consumables. Sand and chemical needs beyond this allotted amount are available for $.31/lb.  Any additional material fees must be paid upon pick up of the final castings at the end of the workshop period. 

About the Visiting Artist

Matt Crane graduated Kansas City Art Institute in 1995 from the Sculpture Department. After moving
to Brooklyn, New York, he initiated a design / build metal arts fabrication facility, silvercrane llc. (c.
1998). His extensive list of clients include Robert Gober, Erin Shirreff, Ivan Navarro, the Whitney
Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. In 1998 Crane simultaneously began a long term
relationship with Kohler Company in Kohler, WI, creating and managing the Kohler Company
Collection of Art while flying between NY and WI. A founding member of Brooklyn Iron he traveled to
and collaborated in numerous iron casting workshops, conferences and symposia both Nationally
and Internationally. Crane returned to Academia (2015) to earn his Masters Degree from the
University at Albany, State University of New York, Department of Art and Art History in 2017. The
artist, fabricator and foundryman now lives and works in upstate New York with his wife Allison and
son Hugo. The well equipped studio is a flexible space that allows for metal casting, wood and metal
fabrication and sculpture making of varying scales. Crane continues to make and exhibit artwork as
well as facilitating projects for artists, building contract architectural metalworks and commissions by
private clients.