Hot Art! Artist Tile Workshops

‘Hot Art’ Artist Tile Workshops

Whether you are new to the process or want to continue your design series, join us for one of our artist tile workshops!
During our two-hour workshop learn how to translate your own design into an open-faced sand mold that will be filled with molten metal at the Public Iron Pour. Students will gain a basic understanding of metal casting and come away with an object of their own design.

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Building Bridges: Fostering Community Through Metal Casting
A Conversation with Bayani Genereaux

“None of it can be done alone,” cast iron sculptor, Bayani Genereaux, says of their practice. “For every piece that I’ve made, I can still vividly remember the amount of other people whose help I needed to accomplish it. And I think that’s a really beautiful thing.” 

A fresh graduate from the University of Minnesota’s BFA Studio Art and Foundry Arts programs,  Bayani was first approached by Igneous Metal Arts in 2017. Today, they serve as the Social Media and Outreach Coordinator for the non-profit, connecting with venues, artists, and event participants. As Bayani puts it: “I’m essentially the grand inviter.” Dedicated to preserving metal casting as an art form, Igneous Metal Arts hosts community workshops and casting performances throughout the Midwest. 

Carrying on a near decade long partnership between Igneous Metal Arts and Caponi Art Park, the Hot Art! Artist Tile Workshops and Public Iron Pour will return this July and August. “Caponi Art Park has been one of our first and most consistent hosts for these events. Caponi has always been so accommodating and supportive of our program and what we’ve been doing,” Bayani explains. 

During the two hour workshop, students will learn to draft, mirror, and carve a tile mold, which will be filled with molten metal at the Public Iron Pour. The workshop and pour events are open to all ages and artistic skill levels. “We want people to experience that wonder and magic that is casting metal, and be able to walk away with a little piece of their own,” Bayani tells CAP. “We also hope that by learning a little bit about the practice of metal casting, participants come away with a new perspective on things that they interact with every day.”

The importance and impact of metal casting in constructing the world around us cannot be understated. “It’s a skilled labor that everyday people took part in a hundred years ago to build the infrastructure of this country, and still take part in today to make the things that all people benefit from.” Through Hot Art! Workshops, students not only get to witness, but actively participate in, this vital art form. “The skills and procedures that we use for these community events, they’re very much the same skills and procedures that were used to make the steel girders for buildings and bridges, or the masters’ sculpture works in museums.” 

For Bayani, the heart of metal casting lies in its capacity to foster human connection and build community. “It’s really, really great connecting with the people that come out to these events every year, both as participants and spectators, and forming long-lasting connections through the work.”

Join us July 26, August 2, or August 6 to create your very own tile mold, then experience the breathtaking spectacle of a molten iron pour on August 9! A rare opportunity to try your hand at metal cast art, Hot Art! is sure to be unforgettable. 

“It’s molten iron- it’s hotter than lava!” – An Interview With Roger Karlson

As we approach the hot month of August, an exciting opportunity for seasoned and beginning artists alike will take place at Caponi Art Park. During the Hot Art! Artist Tile Workshops, a team of professional artists from Igneous Metal Arts will guide participants through the process of drafting, mirroring and carving a tile mold to be filled with molten iron during the public iron pour. This is a rare opportunity for beginners to dip their toes (not literally) into the unique world of metal arts.

Igneous Metal Arts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving metal casting as an art practice. They run workshops and public events through the upper midwest to share their love for the art. Roger Karlson, one of the founders of the traveling art group, got his start as a welder and eventually joined a group of metal casting artists at the University of Minnesota. Soon after their meeting, they built a portable cupolette (the furnace for melting iron) and became Igneous Metal Arts.

When asked about the art form, Karlson tells Caponi Art Park that one of his favorite parts is collaborating with the iron casting community. “They’re honest, straightforward and it’s something we enjoy.” There is undoubtedly an air of danger surrounding metal casting, but Roger Karlson says “We enjoy it because of the danger. It’s molten iron-it’s hotter than lava! When you’re casting something, there’s no guarantee you’ll get what you thought you were gonna get. Sometimes mishaps, happy accidents, explosions.” It’s clear though that this unpredictability is what makes iron casting so special.

Roger Karlson emphasizes the challenge and ultimate reward of carving tiles in preparation for the public iron pour. “It’s a new skill set for many people. This backward mirror image is something that takes a while for people to gather. You draw what you want to carve into the tile with a magic marker that bleeds through. Then you can turn it over and use it like carbon paper to draw lines on your tile facing the correct direction. That’s the most difficult part to teach. Once that little light goes off, people carve incredibly beautiful and intricate things.”

The Hot Art! Artist Tile Workshops are open to participants of all ages and skill levels, although younger children will collaborate with their families. “It’s a plethora of different types of people!” says Karlson. “Kids, middle-aged, old people show up, young people show up. Everyone talks and watches, it’s a community learning and making experience.” This is a thrilling opportunity to create art that you won’t want to pass up, and we’re honored, as always, to host Igneous Metal Arts at Caponi Art Park for another year of their remarkable iron casting.