The 5,000-year-old process of casting metal comes out of the foundry and onto the streets of Vail Jan. 18-20. Metal casting, a visually exciting art event, will take place each night from 5 to 9 p.m. on the International Bridge.
Metal casting was once thought to be a technically sophisticated process that could only be accomplished in a foundry. Since 1951 artists have been challenging this idea by fabricating their own furnaces, heating metal until molten and casting their own sculptures. Over the course of a weekend, more than thirty artists from all over the world will meet in Vail to conduct “metal casting performances” for the public, learn from each other and share their ideas and experience of metal casting. The process includes heating metal in furnaces built by the artists to 2,800 degrees and then ladling or pouring liquid metal into molds to create sculptures. Many of the sculptures that will be cast during the performance were created by Vail school children and community members. Bronze sculptures will be cast on Jan. 18 & 19. The finale, an iron pour described as more exciting than an erupting volcano, will take place from 5 - 9 p.m. Jan. 20.

About the artists
Mark Guilbeau and Rian Kerrane
Mark Guilbeau and Rian Kerrane formed SPH ArtFunctions in 1993 with the aim of deepening the public's understanding of all aspects of the creative process. Over the last ten years, they have poured thousands of pounds of metal for audiences all over the U.S. The equipment used during an SPH ArtFunctions bronze and iron pour was built by Guilbeau using ancient techniques developed for metal casting, in combination with both discarded and space-age materials. Whenever possible, Guilbeau and Kerrane use recycled and found objects in their art and in their lives. In addition to educating others about the origins of items in everyday use, Guilbeau and Kerrane believe it is important for artists to have the opportunity to share their expertise and learn from each other. Heavy Metal Weekend marks their first opportunity to bring more than thirty artists together and to reveal the contemporary relevance of the industrial process.

George Beasley
George Beasley, founder of the Sculpture Department at Georgia State University is acting as mentor and advisor to the team of artists participating in Heavy Metal Weekend. Inspiration for Beasley's own imagery originates from personal and familial links to Celtic history and to the iron foundries of Scotland and the U.S. He credits these links with his decision to become a sculptor and his adoption of foundry work as a means of artistic expression. This decision was reinforced through his graduate work with Julius Schmidt at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Schmidt was the first American artist to legitimize and promote foundry work as integral to the sculpture experience. Through this experience Beasley evolved a commitment to art making and teaching which elevates the art making process to the same status as the art object. This involvement in a process-oriented art and its gradual evolution into “performance” art has led full circle to an appreciation of the importance of the history and the sociology of foundry work.

Download the brochure that includes a map to the event's location.

Download the poster for the event.