Fine Arts Foundry Reopens at CSUN

With a flash of brilliant green and yellow light, Cal State Northridge reopened a fine arts foundry this week that had been closed since early 1994.

The foundry, which shut after the earthquake--not for structural reasons but to provide other art departments with emergency space--will be used for bronze and aluminum casting. Dave Elder, who has overseen the reopening of the foundry, plans to teach a casting course in the spring semester.

At the official opening earlier this week, Elder demonstrated bronze casting, which involves several steps of heating, pouring and cooling liquid metal that reaches about 2,150 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Bronze does its thing in the most gorgeous kind of way,” Elder said. “It has always been considered a noble metal. It has a richness, an aesthetic.”

To create works out of aluminum and bronze, students first create a wax mold, then pour the hot metal over the mold and, after it has cooled, smooth out rough spots where debris or machinery created imperfections on the surface.

Few collegiate art programs in California have working foundries, Elder said, which gives CSUN students a rare opportunity.

“Fine arts foundries are out of the reach of most people, unless you’ve got megabucks,” he said. “I have some students--even grad students--who have been here awhile who are stopping what they’re doing to get some foundry experience under their belt.”