Sparks flew at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham as metal artists from across the country gathered March 25-28 for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art & Practices.

A solid future for the Metal Arts from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The conference, held every other year at Sloss, this year was themed “Breaking the Mold.” Some of the artists did just that, at least figuratively, with nontraditional uses of iron such as with alternative photographic processes and video.

The conference brought together students, educators, academics and professionals who are “dedicated to exploring and advancing cast iron as an art medium,” according to the www.slossarts.com website.

Support from the conference helps the Metal Arts Program at Sloss preserve the history and knowledge needed for working with cast iron. In turn, the Metal Arts Program offers opportunities to spread and expand, technical, aesthetic and conceptual aspects of the discipline, the website says.