Academic and Cultural Events

Presentations
The ICCCIA emphasizes education and critical discourse through panel presentations and discussions and a keynote speech given by a recognized figure in contemporary cast iron art or contemporary sculpture. Panel presentations and speakers are selected on their relevance to the conference topic and also chosen based on current aesthetic, technical and conceptual questions important to the discourse on contemporary cast iron art. Topics are weighed based on their relevance to the culture of the country hosting the conference and preference is given to topics that will appeal to a broad audience including academics, students, sculptors and contextual participants such as art historians and foundry workers.

Keynote Speaker
Ojārs Feldbergs, Founder and Director of the Pedvale Open-Air Art Museum will address the conference on the aesthetic and cultural qualities of contemporary cast iron art in relation to the conference region with specific focus on the Baltics, Eastern and Northern Europe.

Sessions
Sessions for the 7th ICCCIA will focus on the topic of the conference; exploring the conceptual and aesthetic context of sculptural iron casting and its effect on contemporary art, forms of ritual and the transformation of landscape.

Demonstrations
Technical and aesthetic demonstrations are an important element of the ICCCIA. These include demonstrations of important historical processes such as smelters, primitive furnace and mold-making processes as well as new developments in processes, such as digital pattern and mold-making.

Elena Lourenco- Demonstrations

Assistant Professor, Fine Arts-Buffalo State College, NY -lourenem/at/buffalostate/dot/edu

Mary Neubauer – Presentations

School of Art-Head of Sculpture, Arizona State University – MARY.Neubauer/at/asu/dot/edu

Cynthia Handel – Presentations
Teaching faculty, The Crucible, California – cynthiahandel89/at/gmail/dot/com

Deborah LaGrasse – Cultural Events
Instructor, School of Architecture, Florida A & M – dlagrasse/at/yahoo/dot/com