While some people might struggle to light a campfire for smores, a group of sculpture students at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) have spent the past semester, including time over winter break, designing and building a cupola that will melt iron at around 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Every two years, the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices (NCCIAP) holds a student-led Cupola Contest, and CMU has been planning on being there since the spring of 2023. On April 2nd, a handful of students will be in Birmingham, Alabama– once the world’s largest producer of cast iron pipe, and now the host for Sloss Metal Arts programs. The contest will last until April 5th. While there, the team will have a chance to show off the cupola they designed and built themselves. Accurately named Spitfire, the Intromittent Cupola is constructed into four sections, and will turn iron bits from things like bathtubs and sinks into molten metal.
Senior studio art student Ayla Pierce, who has a focus on ceramic sculpture and printmaking, explained how time consuming this project is.
“Every week we usually have three meetings […] starting at 10:30am and we stay until around 1pm. But that goes over, so technically it’s maybe around four hours. That’s 12 hours a week or so on average. Over the break, maybe more,” said Pierce.
Still, the competing students find the work rewarding. Zada Kane, a senior studio art minor, says it has been a great learning experience.
“It’s been really fun, for me personally, the entire time. Definitely learning a lot. I’ve grown with my welding abilities,” said Kane.
“I love seeing how everyone… has puzzled through all of the challenges that we’ve come across,” said junior studio art major Heather Goff, who has been taking sculpture classes for the past two years.
Junior studio art major Rebecca McGaffick says that working as a team is essential.
“I think it’s not only the challenge of putting together something that none of us have ever made before from scratch and having the consequences of it not working be so dire,” said McGaffick.
But, according to Kane, the hard work has paid off.
“It’s really cool to look at in person. Because two months ago, it was just on paper. And now were seeing it sitting in front of us, in the flesh,” said Kane.
CMU alum Andrew Griffenberg, who graduated last year with a bachelor’s in physics, has continued to take sculpture classes since 2023. He says he’s is looking forward to April.
“We really like metal casting. We love this stuff. We put on an iron pour every semester, during Oktoberfest and privately. We all have our roles; we know the ins and outs of what we are doing and how to set up and take down the cupola. There is always more to learn, but we are practiced in what we do. The biggest thing is that we love it!”
