An "iron pour" in progress.

An iron pour, the heating and melting of iron in a special high-temperature furnace called a cupola, features a process from the Iron Age in which metal is melted, poured into molds and cooled to form cast iron objects.

Brian Glaze, sculptor and art instructor at Blue Ridge Community College, will lead the pour with his own cupola and train art students to participate. Glaze is a spring semester artist-in-residence at Western.

Sponsors of the event include the College of Arts and Sciences and the department of art and design’s artist-in-residence program. Event sponsors and Marya Roland, associate professor of art at Western, will host faculty and students from all University of North Carolina campuses, Brevard College, Blue Ridge Community College and East Tennessee State University.

The event is free and open to the public and will take place at 1 p.m. until dark on the lawn adjacent to the sculpture facility of the Fine and Performing Arts Center. In the event of rain, the iron pour will take place from 1 p.m. until dark Saturday, March 24.

For more information, contact Marya Roland at (828) 227-3593.

Also scheduled during the weekend is a performance by the Count Basie Orchestra, the opening of an exhibition of photographs of famous rock ‘n’ roll musicians, and the annual WCU Jazz Festival performances.