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"Iron Trail to the Arctic"
Arctic Circle Iron Pour: Summer Solstice 2008
follow the progress of the project as they make their way from Texas to Alaska
The Project:
What do you do with 24 hours of daylight?
For the participants of the "Iron Trail
to the Arctic", we pour cast iron sculptures north of the Arctic Circle; something
that hasn't been attempted on the North American continent, as far as we have
been able to ascertain.
The team of sculptors and commercial foundrymen will
pour sculptures in cast iron using a small version of a traditional coke fueled
cupola furnace. The pieces will become a permanent installation at the Wiseman
Village, Alaska site.
Taking advantage of the extended daylight period, the
sculptures can be cast, cooled, surface finished, and installed in a single "day".
Sculptors Wendy Croskrey, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Patrick Garley of
Arctic Fires Bronze Sculpture Works in Palmer, Alaska, and Meredith Jack,
Lamar University, Beaumont, TX will be under the direction of Donnie Keen of
Keen Foundry, Houston, TX to produce the commemorative cast iron sculptures.
Students from the participating universities and other participants may be added
as the project continues.
The Beginnings:
As is usual in unusual events, the project germinated following a chance
meeting. Pat Garley and Donnie Keen were both participating in an academic
iron pour event at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM. The
Alaskan sculptor and Texas commercial foundry owner found that they had a
mutual fascination with both iron casting and the arctic.
Subsequent
conversations and general planning sessions brought Wendy Croskrey and
Meredith Jack, who have been casting iron in academic venues for a number of
years, into the group. It was decided that the only truly appropriate day of the
year for such an event would be the summer solstice.
One of the primary impediments to such a project has been the prohibitively high
freight charges for bulk materials such as coke fuel when shipped to Alaska. Our
solution is to bring it with us from Texas in sufficient quantity to supply both the
project and a number of academic and sculpture studios in Alaska. Final costs to
these venues will depend on the prevailing price of coke fuel at the time and
. transportation expenses for the coke fuel and the project participants.
Objectives:
Obviously, the primary objective is to successfully cast and install cast iron
sculptures north of the Arctic Circle. However there are several other facets to
the program. One is to spread the use of cast iron as a sculptural material and to
train participants in the workshops to make their own sculptures in iron. The
inclusion of students from various institutions into the project furthers their
educational experience. The availability of the coke fuel that we will transport and
the trained participants we leave behind will spread the use of cast iron as a
sculptural material.
Another major facet of this project is to demonstrate that casting iron really isn't
rocket science and that any reasonably competent person can build and operate
an iron casting facility, anywhere.
The cast iron that will be used to create the art pieces will be cast iron scrap from
local sources. This jron will be melted and recast into objects of art both
functional and conceptual
Outcomes:
The project will be presented at academic and industrial conferences. Both
Meredith Jack and Donnie Keen have been involved with past International
Conferences on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and biennial Southern Iron
Conferences, where the project will be presented. Modem Casting, the journal of
the American Foundry Society, has indicated an interest in printing an article
about the project. Other media outlets are being explored and we expect
extensive local coverage around the workshops. There will be exhaustive
documentation from beginning to end.
Scope of the Project:
The operational plan is to drive a truck from Texas to Alaska with the coke fuel and any necessary materials and equipment. The trail will begin in Houston , TX on Sunday May 31, 2008. Our first stop is in Clarendon , TX where we have scheduled our first iron pour; however, there is a “burn-ban” in place right now that may postpone that pour until after Alaska . From Clarendon we travel on to Denver , CO where we will take part in the new Western Cast Iron Conference from June 3-7. Both Donnie Keen and Meredith Jack will participate on panels for the conference and we may do a demonstration pour; that hasn't been ascertained yet. From Denver the trail leads to Bellingham , WA , where on June 13 th the truck and passengers board the coastal ferry to Haines , AK .
The ferry arrives in Haines on June 16 th , and then the trail becomes a driving trip once more with the run towards Wiseman, with a stop in Fairbanks to pick up participants who have flown there. Also the truck participants meet up in Fairbanks with the group that has started from Palmer and Anchorage . We estimate that the last drive to Wiseman from Fairbanks will take one to two days.
Wiseman is 50 miles north of the arctic circle, a journey 300 miles north of Fairbanks up the Dalton Highway . Upon arrival, we set up the equipment and materials for the iron pour on Saturday June 21 st . On Sunday we clean up the site and Monday begin the long trek back down the Dalton Highway , through Fairbanks where those participants who are flying out of Fairbanks will leave the trail.
Further travel gets us to Wasilla , AK , northeast of Anchorage , to do a second iron pour and workshop. The iron pour will be on Saturday June 28 th at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla. This pour will be part of the “Art on Fire Festival” which will also feature artists demonstrating other art forms that use fire as part of the process such as blacksmiths and raku fired ceramics. Arctic Fires Bronze Sculpture Works and the Valley Arts Alliance are the contacts for this event. Prior to the Wasilla Pour, there will be mold making workshops held at Arctic Fires Bronze sculpture works in Palmer, AK. Those participants who are flying out of Anchorage will leave the trail after the Wasilla workshop.
The final event will be a workshop and iron pour in the city of Kenai , AK, 200 miles south of Anchorage , on July 4 th . Presented by Arctic Fires Sculpture Workshop and Metal Magic Custom Metal Fabrication, the pour will be part of the City of Kenai 's Fourth of July celebration.
Those participants who are flying out of Anchorage can leave the trail after the Wasilla workshop or the Kenai Iron Pour and the vehicle will begin the long trail back to Houston .