Sculpture Symposium at HU Nov. 15 — 19
New Mexico Highlands University and Kansas State University present “Purple Dawn – A Sculpture Symposium” Nov. 15 — 19 on the Highlands’ campus.
David Lobdell, a Highlands fine arts professor, and Daniel Hunt, a Kansas State sculpture professor, are longtime colleagues and internationally known for their iron art, and leadership in the iron art movement.
The two collaborated to organize the sculpture symposium at Highlands. Ten students enrolled in sculpture classes from each university will participate.
The public is welcome to attend all sessions of the sculpture symposium, including watching the casting sessions at the Highlands University Art Foundry.
“The symposium offers our students a chance to dance with hot metal to produce their sculptures in a supervised, controlled environment,” Lobdell said. “We’ll pour aluminum, bronze and iron into the molds on three different days at the foundry.”
Lobdell said the public will see students moving molds and firing furnaces for iron, aluminum and bronze casting while he and Hunt supervise.
“At this sculpture symposium, we are here to share our ideas, our histories, and our energy,” Lobdell said. “We will all learn something from each other about our art, and the students and faculty will benefit from this exchange.”
The symposium schedule includes:
Visiting Artist Lecture, Daniel Hunt, Kansas State University, Nov. 15, 11 a.m. — 12 p.m., Burris Hall, Room 129, 903 National Ave.
Student Symposium – Nov. 15, 2 — 5 p.m., Highlands Art Foundry, 914 11th St. (Students from Highlands and Kansas State will present slideshows of their art work.)
Aluminum Casting Session — Nov. 17, 2 — 5 p.m., Highlands Art Foundry.
Bronze Casting Session — Nov. 18, 2 — 5 p.m., Highlands Art Foundry.
Iron Casting Session – Nov. 19, beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing through the day, Highlands Art Foundry.
One of Lobdell’s areas of expertise is chemical patination, the coloring of metals. Other universities ask him to share his iron art knowledge. He was a visiting artist/guest lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Art from Nov. 1 — 4.
“When our Highlands University fine arts students apply to graduate school they distinguish themselves from other applicants by their knowledge and demonstration of sculpture color in their portfolios,” Lobdell said.
In 2001, Lobdell established the biannual Iron Tribe Exhibit at Highlands, a popular iron art event that features local, national and international artists. In 2008, he cofounded the Western Cast Iron Art Alliance and is president for the alliance, composed of higher education art professors.
Hunt is also active in the Western Cast Iron Art Alliance and will be the keynote speaker at its biannual conference in May 2012. He is part of an acclaimed group of cast metal sculpture artists called Metal Monkeys that formed in 2008 in England.
“Pouring iron is one of the only events that sculptors can do as a group,” Hunt said. “The entire process is extremely physical, requiring a committed work force.”
Both art professors have presented several times at the International Contemporary Cast Iron Conference, with Hunt chairing the conference in 2009.