Will Schlough, Ball Machine, 2013.

Nylon balls, cording, and steel, dimen-

sions variable. View of installation at

Alloy PGH 2013.

The Catalyst of Arts and Heritage

at the Carrie Furnaces

HEA

THER

TABAC

CI

BY JOSHUA REIMAN

Almost 100 feet tall and constructed of 2.5-

inch-thick plate steel lined with refractory

brick, the iron cupolas at the Carrie Furnaces

National Historic Landmark in Swissvale

and Rankin, Pennsylvania, are extremely rare

examples of pre-World War II iron-making

technology. Since the collapse of the Pitts-

burgh region’s steel industry and the dis-

mantling of most of the mills along the

waterways of southwestern Pennsylvania,

the Carrie Furnaces are the only non-opera-

tive blast furnaces in the area that remain

standing. A visit to the Carrie Furnaces is

like stepping into a cathedral of iron and

steel. The architecture is both overwhelm-

ing and inspiring. This is a sculptor’s para-

dise, and it also happens to be one of the

sites for the 26th International Sculpture

Conference, “Sculpture in Context: Tradition

and Innovation.”

Place matters, and tradition and innova-

tion surround this National Historic Land-

mark. Built in the late 1880s, the Carrie

Furnaces produced iron for the Homestead

Works steel operation (after 1898), which

was owned by Andrew Carnegie, and then

US Steel (Henry Clay Frick). Iron flowed

from its seven cupola furnaces for close to

100 years. Furnaces 6 and 7 are the only

ones that still remain on the site. During

the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, Carrie 6 and 7

consumed approximately four tons of raw

iron ore, coke, and limestone for every ton

of iron produced. The cooling system for the

blast furnace required more than 5,000,000

gallons of water a day, all supplied by the

Monongahela River. The furnaces reached

their peak production in the 1950s and ’60s,

when they were producing 1,000–1,250

tons of iron a day. It was here, just outside

Pittsburgh, that steel became synonymous

with American progress and industrial rev-

olution. This is the birthplace of American

big steel. From these furnaces flowed the

molten alloy that was formed into many

monumental icons of the American built

environment, including the Empire State

Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the

Brooklyn Bridge.

US Steel ceased operations at the Carrie

Furnaces in 1984. When the site was sold

to the Park Corporation in 1988, the com-

pany started to dismantle and salvage the

steel structures and machinery. During that

time, many local artists would jump the

fence and explore the derelict site, includ-

ing the locally famous Industrial Arts Coop -

er ative (IAC), a rogue group of guerrilla artists

led by sculptor Tim Kaulen. The group

created monumental site-specific installa-

tions from materials found there and spent

several seasons of dedicated effort creating

the massive Carrie Deer that is still on the

site today. Many sculptors and graffiti

artists created passionate works among

the rusting giants of the Carrie Furnaces.

The Steel Industry Heritage Task Force

was also founded in 1988, the same year

that the Park Corporation bought the Car-

rie Furnaces. In 1991, the organization

morphed into the Rivers of Steel Heritage

Corporation (RSHC). A visionary nonprofit,

the RSHC was formed through a collabora-

tive effort between the National Parks

Service and the Pennsylvania County and

State Departments of Conservation and

Recreation with the intention to secure the

Carrie Furnaces site. The RSHC now owns

and stewards many sites of cultural impor-

32 Sculpture 35.8

JOSH

UA REIM

AN

View of the furnaces Carrie 6 and 7.

tance in the Pittsburgh region, repurposing

and preserving them for future generations.

Its mission includes historic preservation,

cultural conservation, education, recre-

ation, and resource development. Through

the tireless efforts of the RSHC and its main

historian and hyper-passionate site man-

ager, Ron Baraff, the Carrie Furnaces now

offers a dynamic platform for the arts. Baraff

and the RSHC have approached the site in

an extremely open manner. Realizing that

the site had more potential than just a

monument to the region’s past and that it

could be accessed through multiple forms

of interpretation, they welcomed art as a

catalyst.

Anyone who has a foundry practice or

understands the steel and iron heritage of

the area will marvel at the majestic array

of buildings and cupolas that make up this

unique campus. In the mid-2000s, local

sculptor Ed Parrish Jr. started running iron

pours at the Carrie Furnaces as part of his

Hot Metal Happenings (funded by the

Sprout Fund), whose purpose was to share

with the regional community the fact that

iron casting in Pittsburgh is still happening

(at a smaller scale)—this time, for making

contemporary art.

In 2013, two art professors from Indiana

University of Pennsylvania (IUP)—Chris

McGinnis, a curator, and fellow colleague/

sculptor Sean Derry—formed Alloy PGH.

Artists accepted to this biennial residency,

education, and exhibition program receive

the opportunity to respond to the Carrie

Furnaces site. Funded by local arts organi -

zations such as the Sprout Fund, IUP’s Kipp

Gallery, and Radiant Hall Studios, Alloy PGH

has brought in artists, historians, ecolo-

gists, and curators to help the artists-in-

residence learn more about what it means

to work contextually. Luminaries such as

Ann Hamilton and Mary Jane Jacob helped

younger artists, including Ricardo Robinson,

Oreen Cohen, Carl Bajandas, Ryan Keen,

and Edith Abeyta, to create fantastic instal-

lations on site during the 2015 program.

McGinnis and Derry had the vision and the

Sculpture October 2016 33

Above and detail: Industrial Arts Cooperative,

Carrie Deer, 1997. Salvaged metal, 40 ft. tall.

Right: Patrick Camut, STAN, 2015. Steel, coke,

and ceramic cup, 84 x 60 x 312 in. View of

installation at Alloy PGH 2015.

TOP LE

FT: JO

SHUA REIM

AN / TOP RIG

HT: RON BARAFF

/ BOTT

OM

: RICARDO ROBIN

SON

drive to bring artists to this dynamic loca-

tion to demonstrate how the visual and

performing arts can transform neglected

sites into gathering places. The 2013 and

2015 iterations of the program have been

extremely successful, establishing the

model as a regional gem of an art exhibi-

tion that challenges visitors to experience

the Carrie Furnaces in a whole new way.

At the same time that iron casting events

and Alloy PGH were beginning to take

shape at Carrie, landscape ethicist and

photographer Rick Darke had been docu-

menting the site’s ecological fabric. Darke’s

passion for place and the site led him, in

consultation with the RSHC and Baraff, to

invite the Penn State Master Gardener Pro-

gram of Allegheny County to develop a com-

prehensive plant survey in and around Carrie.

In 2014, the Master Gardeners—led

by Susan Marquesen, Joanne van Linden,

Addy Smith-Reiman, and Anna Johnson—

put together a team of artists, ecologists,

historians, and students to develop a multi-

disciplinary approach to interpreting the

native and invasive plant species that are

surviving, and even thriving, in the dis-

turbed soils of the Carrie Furnaces site. As

part of their research, they addressed best

practices in environmental stewardship

and responded to the site itself with the

Iron Garden Walk, which is open to the pub-

lic and features a series of 10 interpretive

iron plaques. First, the Master Gardeners

consolidated their research to develop the

content, which includes botanical illustra-

tions from the Hunt Institute of Botanical

Documentation at Carnegie Mellon and

descriptions of the various plants growing

around the foundry, and Smith-Reiman

created the layout of the plaque designs.

The designs were translated and milled in

high-density urethane (HDU) on the CNC

in the Carnegie Mellon Sculpture Depart-

ment by art student Lauren Valley. The

patterns were molded by myself and Ed

Parrish Jr. and cast on site with the Master

Gardeners, CMU students, a large contin-

gent of local artists, and Casey Westbrook

of Carbon Arts. After the pour, the plaques

were installed for future generations of

visitors to discover through the seasons.

The Iron Garden Walk is a perfect example

of collaboration between multiple organiza-

tions, using art and cast iron to bring peo-

ple with related ideas together. The Master

Gardeners, with the help of historians and

artists, were able to realize their concept of

how the site might be seen. By supporting

projects like the Iron Garden Walk and Alloy

PGH, the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation

has been forward-thinking in its approach

to how this site can benefit from its con-

text, heritage, and public engagement.

34 Sculpture 35.8

COURTE

SY THE ARTIST

Oreen Cohen, Spectre and Shade, 2015. Theater

lighting gels, gaffer’s tape, and existing girder

structure, dimensions variable. View of installa-

tion at Alloy PGH 2015.

The RSHC continues to diversify, bringing

more artists to engage with the Carrie Fur-

naces. It recently unveiled a newly formed

program, Rivers of Steel Arts (RoSA), headed

by artist Chris McGinnis. Through RoSA’s

multifaceted programing, the Carrie Fur-

naces is quickly becoming one of the region’s

most exciting venues for the arts, educa-

tion, and entertainment. RoSA has seen

the benefits of multiple forms of commu-

nity outreach and has teamed up with Par-

rish Jr. and Westbrook to develop Carbon

Arts at Carrie, a metal arts program that

will offer educational opportunities for

mold-making, casting, and welding in the

coming years. The groups are in the process

of putting together infrastructure for a

permanent foundry on the site, outfitted

with a gantry, material storage, classrooms,

and eventually multiple iron cupolas of

various sizes. RoSA is dedicated to artistic

programming that reimagines the future

of familiar places, builds pride in commu-

nity, and attracts renewed public interest

in Pittsburgh’s Monongahela River Valley.

It continues to evolve and hone its pro-

gram offerings to attract new visitors from

the local, regional, and global community

to the site, while knowing the past and

embracing the future. RoSA has already

generated a substantial and eclectic pro-

gram, including artist residencies, eco-

arts, photo arts, urban arts (graffiti), film,

dance, theater, festivals, and heritage arts

consisting of a regional folklife center that

represents eight counties in southwestern

Pennsylvania.

During the 26th annual International Sculp -

ture Conference, conference-goers will have

a chance to visit the Carrie Furnaces for panel

discussions, cast iron workshops, tours of

the Iron Garden Walk, and an exhibition of

contemporary cast iron sculpture curated by

Westbrook and Parrish Jr. For more on the

arts at Carrie, visit <http://rosarts.org>.

Joshua Reiman is an artist living in Portland,

Maine, where he is also an assistant pro-

fessor in the MFA in Studio Art + Sculpture

programs at the Maine College of Art.

Sculpture October 2016 35

JOSH

UA REIM

AN

Right: Visit to the Iron Garden Walk led by Anna

Johnson, 2015. Below and detail: Iron Garden

Walk signage.