Warmest Regards, 2018

Collaboration Artists: Marjee Levine & Wayne E. Potratz

There is little written about the brief history of iron casting in the art world. Most of our stories exist as oral traditions - passed down like folklore from professor/professional to student at conferences, in the classroom, or through residencies. The original iron pioneers have begun to retire and travel less, which leaves the next generation of casters to ensure this knowledge is not lost. As this generation embraces that responsibility, they are preserving the history, mythology and technical proficiency, and passing it along to the students and young casters below them.

Professors Wayne E. Potratz, Marjee Levine, and Stacey Holloway created a book composed of letters written by the original “founding fathers and mothers” and/or “significant contributors to the field” of fine art iron casting addressed to a fictitious young caster. We asked 21 iron pioneers to write a letter to a “fictional young caster.” They composed their letters surrounding their particular opinions, words of wisdom, technical advice, inspirations, experimentation, and anything that they felt might enrich a young caster’s understanding of why they do what they do and why they have encouraged so many others to follow in this path. The participants who generously gave their time included:

Rick Batten, George Beasley, Carl Billingsley, Stephen Daly, Kurt Dyrhaug, Thomas Gipe, Jack Gron, John Hachmeister, Meredith (Butch) Jack, Donnie Keen, Deborah La Grasse, Coral Penelope Lambert, David Lobdell, Mary Neubauer, Carolyn Ottmers, Kenneth Payne, Wayne E. Potratz, Cliff Prokop, Jim Swartz, Skip Van Houten, and Paige Wainwright

The books were fully funded through multiple donations, which make it possible for all proceeds to go straight to the specialized conferences and the venues that host and teach the art form.