We are a woman owned Art Foundry in Illinois. The local art scene is booming in Central Illinois with many artistic mediums including painting and glass, but there are few sculpture opportunities available to the public. Black Dog Metal Arts seeks to provide metal casting opportunities to the public. We will teach classes, hold workshops, and host community iron pours. Participants will have the chance to learn bronze and aluminum casting processes in our hands on classes. At this time, our goal is to build a cupola furnace to begin hosting iron pours for the community and students at Bradley University and Illinois Central College. The building of the furnace will be a community effort. We are inviting anyone who wants to learn how to build a furnace to join in, even if they have no experience! After the furnace is built, we will hold an iron pour that is free and open to the public. People will be able to help with the pour or can choose to watch the exciting spectacle from afar. We will provide scratch blocks for a small fee to cover the cost of materials. Scratch blocks are small resin bonded sand molds that people can scratch an image into. We pour iron into the cavity of the scratch block for the viewers to admire, and then they are left with their own hand made cast iron plaque to take home! With this furnace, we hope to take a giant step towards bringing the community together, provide a new appreciation for iron casting and sculpture via education and participation, and giving unique opportunities to the area.