Saturday, Sept. 11
Peace Church, 1111 N. 11th Ave. East, lower parking lot
Workshop – 10 am to 3 pm
Iron Pour – 12 noon to 6 pm
Contact: Jeffrey Kalstrom, 218-310-8411 | [email protected]

Workshop: At the workshop scratch blocks – blocks of sand and non-toxic resin – will be available for $15 (hearts), $20 (squares and circles), and $25 (Minnesota). Participants will carve into the shaped blocks to create their own iron tiles. You can watch your blocks being poured with molten iron during the iron pour and take them home. Tools and instruction will be available.

The proceeds will go to Common Language to produce next year’s edition of the Bob Dylan manhole cover series. (Common Language is a regional nonprofit artists organization established in 1997.)

Iron Pour: The iron pour itself is exciting to watch. The fluorescent orange glow of the molten iron as it spouts from the furnace is an awe-inspiring sight. Iron is heated in the furnace to a temperature of 2400 degrees. The iron casters must wear extensive and elaborate safety gear to protect them from the extreme heat. The precise teamwork of the iron casters as they pour the molds is fascinating to see. The process makes something ancient and magical – the transformation of iron from solid to liquid and back again – visible.

Common Language has commissioned two artists — Laurel Sanders and Marc Zapchenk — to design Bob Dylan-themed cast-iron manhole covers for Bob Dylan Way in Duluth. The Duluth Arts Commission selected the artists from numerous entries. The manhole covers will be cast at the 9th North Shore Iron Pour. The manhole covers will be cast from radiators recycled from Split Rock Lighthouse and the St. Louis County Courthouse. The manhole covers will be installed on Bob Dylan Way.

A generous donation of foundry sand has been made by ME-Elecmetal, Duluth.

This activity is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008, and an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature.