OPEN CALLS
Exhibitions
The Steering Committee for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices invites students and professional artists attending the conference to submit images for the 2025 NCCCIAP Juried and Biennial Exhibitions. Each participant may submit one piece for consideration per exhibition. Art may be 2D or 3D but must incorporate iron literally or conceptually. Sculpture, installation, drawing, video, and photography are all encouraged. To be considered for the 2025 exhibitions, Art must have been created within 2022, 2023, and 2024. No works completed before 2022 will be considered.
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Your work must be ready for installation with appropriate hardware and hanging devices (bolts, frames, hanging wire, hooks, etc.). If your work requires a pedestal, please bring one to accommodate it. Failure to bring a pedestal may exclude your work from the exhibitions. If your work is video media, you must provide presentation equipment. Please note that artists are responsible for installing artworks weighing over 100+ lbs and works requiring complex installation processes.
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Exhibitors must attend the conference to participate. Hand-delivered artwork only! Works must be dropped off at the appropriate exhibition spaces by noon on Wednesday, April 2, and picked up by noon on Sunday, April 6. No shipping.
2025 NCCCIAP Juried Exhibition
Juror: Allison Baker
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Refine: 2025 NCCCIAP Biennial Exhibition
Jurors: NCCCIAP Exhibitions Steering Committee: Erika McIlnay, Rainy Rawles, Sam Horowitz, and Misa Yo.
The theme for the Biennial show exists within the greater conference theme, “Skimming the Surface.” Our interpretation of this includes that which is intentionally sought after, revealed, and exposed. Pulling slag from the surface of a pot of metal is more than just good practice - it is a conscious action to refine whatever casting is produced in the ensuing pour. Be it through manufacturing or culture, history or technique, this show invites artists to show their own interpretation of the theme, “refine.”
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Calendar:
November 19, 2024: Exhibition Call Opens
March 3, 2025: Entry Deadline: Midnight
March 10, 2025: Juried Process Begins
March 21, 2025: Acceptance/Award Letter Release
Tuesday, April 1- Wednesday, April 2, 2025:
Drop off Time: No later than noon on Wednesday
Drop off Point: SLOSS Furnaces
Juried Exhibition: New Visitors Center
Biennial Exhibition: Old Visitors Center
April 2- April 4: Installation
April 4- April 5, 2025. Exhibition Dates
Friday, April 4: Exhibition Opens
Sunday, April 6: Pick up at the exhibition location 9 am- Noon.
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Please apply to the NCCCIAP Exhibitions through the links below. Please note these are separate applications! Submissions will not be transferred between exhibition calls. You may apply to both the Juried Show and the Biennial, but please do not apply with the same work to both shows. You may only submit one work per application.
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Coke Bin Exhibition
The Steering Committee for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices would like to invite students and professional artists intending to attend the conference to submit proposals for the 2025 NCCCIAP Coke Bin Installations. Each participant(s) may submit a group or individual proposal for an outdoor installation to be installed and exhibited in one of ten old coke bins that are located at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.
Installations must incorporate iron literally or conceptually as long as the preservation of the historical architecture is left unharmed. Painting or mark marking of any kind, as well as drilling or screwing into or on the historical structure is forbidden. However, submissions could include, but are not limited to: static sculpture/installation; hanging sculptural elements from a built structure that rests on top of the bin; projection or audio; performance; and/or interactivity, etc.
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Applications and more info linked below!
Deadline for applications: March 3, 2025
Notifications sent: March 21, 2025
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Tiny Cupola Competition
Are you tired of running large furnaces? Tapping 2000 pounds every six minutes getting old? Why not try something new? The NCCCIAP is proud to bring back the World’s Tiniest Cupola Contest™! Try your hand at building the smallest iron furnace you can. We invite you to construct a really, really small furnace and try to achieve tiny iron superiority!
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Space is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t delay! That will only make your tiny furnace run slower.
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Applications and more info linked below!
Deadline for registration: February 1, 2025
Registration Fee: N/A
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Questions? Contact: Page Burch at burchp@uab.edu​
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Volunteers - NC3 Crew
The Steering Committee for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices is looking for people to help out during the conference as part of the NC3 Crew!
Crew members will work three, 4 hour shifts assisting in mixing and packing sand, keeping track of tools, helping workshop instructors, installing/taking down exhibitions, registering molds, weighing out iron, and more! We're looking for people in the following areas:
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Workshops will mostly take place in casting shed no. 2 and will assist the foundry in facilitating workshops. This includes mixing and packing sand, putting away and finding tools, cleaning up, and assisting workshop instructors.
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Molds involves processing molds people have brought with them. You will help assign molds to a furnace and ensure sure they get to their final pour floor destination! Once molds have been cast, you will also help with weighing out castings and taking payments for materials.
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Exhibitions will help set up the galleries and with artwork drop-off and pick up.
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Floaters are essential. You could be anywhere at anytime, ready to lend a hand wherever needed!
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Shuttle & Hospitality volunteers help get people to where they're going, make sure there is enough coffee, water, and snacks to go around, and help get tables and chairs set up for receptions!
Accepted NC3 Crew Members will receive a discounted registration of $25. NC3 Crew positions are limited!
To apply, please fill out the digital application below. The application will ask you a few questions on preferred areas and times and to upload a copy of your CV.
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Applications due March 3rd
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Questions? Contact us at nccciap@gmail.com​
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