GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, one of the country’s largest interactive art centers, will hold its annual Spring Iron Pour event at no cost to the public on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Held in partnership with Albright College, the third installment of the annual gathering will feature the major event, an iron pour at sunset, as well as a day-long schedule of programs with visiting artist Tripp Jarvis.
“At nightfall, molten iron, heated to 2000 degrees will be poured into mandala and other cast molds,” said Levi Landis, GoggleWorks Executive Director. “This is the closest thing I’ve seen to fireworks in the art world.”
In addition to the iron pour, the nighttime activities will include a culinary roast by local butcher shop and market Dundore & Heister, live music, food by on-site restaurant Belly Kitchen + Drinkery, s’mores roasting in hot glass crucibles, and other interactive activities. Earlier in the day, sculptor Tripp Jarvis will lead a Mandala Casting Workshop, where students can make their own works to be cast in iron, as well as a free artist talk and screening of his film Temple of the Heart.
“This is the perfect example of what GoggleWorks offers” said Landis. “We strive to present programs that are both substantive and accessible—where artists can perfect their craft and the community can ooh and aah.”
The program is the brainchild of Albright professor Brian Glaze along with Landis and GoggleWorks alum James Pastore. The event draws roughly 500 attendees each year. Admission is free and subsidized by support from the Windgate Foundation and Carole and the late Ray Neag. This year the event will be documented in unique ways including educational sound narration and a GoPro video recording. The event is held on the east side of the campus, just outside of building 6, the facility which houses warm glass and metalsmithing.
Located in downtown Reading, PA, GoggleWorks operates in a former goggle factory and is composed of 145,000 square feet of creative space. GoggleWorks offers year round arts education, including workshops, classes, and visiting artists; a summer residency; youth summer camps; a film theatre and restaurant; and exhibitions. “We also have eight communal studios—hot glass, wood, 2D print, warm glass, metals, ceramics, photography and virtual reality,” Landis said.
The art center will feature a number of major events throughout the year, including the Avant Garden fund-raiser on June 1, the IX conference from October 23-27, and Arts Festival Reading and Holiday Market December 14-15.
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is located in downtown Reading, PA at 201 Washington St. Learn more about the event or GoggleWorks online at www.GoggleWorks.org or by calling 610-374-4600.
