When Lena Gavetti learned from her parents what her family was going to do Saturday at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, she got very excited.
Through the newsletter, they learned about one hands-on activity they could all enjoy together, with others, and would result in a piece of art cast in iron.
The annual Iron Pour & Forge Fest was held Saturday on the grounds of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.
Hosted by GoggleWorks, Albright College, and Pennsylvania Artists Blacksmith Association, this year’s event featured a range of activities beyond metalworking, including hands-on activities for kids and families.
“This place makes us really happy,” said Lena’s father, Michael. “We come here whenever we can.”
Lena’s mother, Agata, said the GoggleWorks hands-on activities are great ways to socialize. People became too isolated during the COVID pandemic, she said, so it’s important to get out and do things with others.
They heard about the event through the GoggleWorks newsletter.
The concept of creating the artwork that would be transformed into metal was very appealing to Lena, a 16-year-old Perkiomen Valley student, and her family of Trappe, Montgomery County.
The whole family, including Lena’s 14-year-old brother, Viktor, participated, Each got their own $35 scratch mold kit. The mold block is composed of sand and composite material, said Alex Crawford, one of the staffers.
They each drew an image on paper that they replicated on the mold surface using a scratching tool. Lena displayed considerable artistic talent in drawing a rabbit.
Molten iron would later be poured (more on that later) in the box filling in the impressions. Removing it would reveal, in relief, the image of her rabbit on the otherwise flat iron plate.
The family won’t get their finished plates for a couple of weeks, Crawford explained. They need to cool and have their sharp edges sanded down,
The grounds and workshops of the arts center were abuzz with activity despite drizzly weather.
Music by performers from Albright’s Center for Fine Arts, food truck fare from Carbon y Lena Latin Kitchen, craft beers from Oakbrook Brewing Company and artisanal ice cream from Great American Creamery were among the highlights.
Under a tent in the rear of the GoggleWorks, local blacksmiths demonstrated the process for super heating and hammering steel into delicate ornate patterns.
The climax of the event, as the name implies, is the big pour, which involves heating 2,000 pounds of iron to 3,000 degrees and tapping the molten metal for pouring.
Source: Berkshire mont
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