French Mountain Studios  ·  Lake George, NY  ·  Adirondack Park

The Crucible

Mobile Metalcasting Education  ·  Grades K–12 & Community

A professional foundry operation brought directly to your campus. Students engage the complete arc of metalcasting — design, fabrication, live fire, and finished cast objects — under the instruction of a credentialed foundry artist and researcher.

Book a Spark Session WVO-Fired · Renewable Fuel · Not a demo kit
See it in action

First successful heat — WVO-fired iron cupolette, French Mountain Studios. Edited program video coming soon.

Program tiers
Two programs, one professional standard
Same WVO-fired furnace technology, same credentialed instruction — scaled to your school's needs and timeline.
Tier 1  ·  Single Day  ·  All Grades
Spark
Aluminum sand casting  ·  Every student casts
Format1 visit, single program day StudentsUp to 60 maximum MetalAluminum WVO AudienceK–12, community, all ages WindowsFall (Sept–Nov) / Spring (Apr–Jun)

Students design original artwork and carve their design into a pre-rammed open-face sand tile mold. After a discussion of graphite resist coating and combustion science, they observe a live aluminum pour and take home a permanently cast aluminum tile bearing their own design.

1
Design concept and 2D drawing
2
Transfer and carve design into pre-rammed sand mold
3
Graphite resist coating — combustion and materials science discussion
4
Live aluminum pour — WVO crucible melter
5
Cast tile takeaway — students may keep their sand mold
Base program — up to 50 studentsAll materials, artist fees, transport included
$2,500
Per additional student (51–60)
$50
Mosaic variantCoordinated design, installed on site
$3,500
At full capacity
Compares favorably with a standard field trip
$50 / student

Multiple funding streams may be available. BOCES Arts in Education CoSer booking available — consult your district budget office.

Tier 2  ·  Multi-Session  ·  High School
Crucible Residency
Iron sand casting  ·  Complete foundry arc
Format6–8 sessions over 3 weeks Students20 minimum / 30 maximum MetalCast iron WVO AudienceHigh school & community adult Object limit12″ maximum in any direction

A full foundry residency from concept through pattern-making, sand preparation and mold construction, live iron pour, finishing, and critique. Program design is developed collaboratively with CTE and arts instructors before delivery.

1
Metalcasting as profession, industry, and research — career pathways
2
Concept development and object design — constrained brief
3
Pattern fabrication — wood, 3D print, or found object
4
Sand preparation, ramming, multi-part mold construction
5
Live iron pour — WVO cupolette demonstration
6
Finishing, surface treatment, critique
+
Optional: documentation and exhibition support — school or BOCES organized
Per student — full residencyMinimum 20 / maximum 30 students
$575–$650

Multiple funding streams may be available. Program designed to be accessible — consult your district budget office.

Curriculum alignment
Standards & CTE connections
NYS & National Standards
NYS Visual Arts Standards NGSS ETS1 — Engineering Design NGSS PS1 — Materials Science NGSS ESS3 — Earth & Human Activity Common Core Math Combustion & Renewable Energy Design Process Manufacturing Career Pathways Materials Science
CTE Connections — WSWHE BOCES
▸Welding & Machining — upstream foundry content: draft angles, shrinkage allowance, material behavior, gating systems.
▸Construction Trades — materials properties, structural forms, fabrication from molten state.
▸Arts in Education — full NYS Visual Arts Standards arc: Creating, Presenting, Responding, Connecting. Working professional as lead artist.
▸Dual entry by design — CTE students and arts students share the pour floor.
How we work
Delivery formats
In-school at your site
Fully mobile — we bring the foundry to you. Requires outdoor or covered space with adequate clearance. Available across upstate New York. Fall and spring scheduling windows.
BOCES campus
Multiple schools send students to a shared central location. Single setup serves multiple cohorts. Ideal for regional BOCES or district cooperative arrangements.
Afterschool cohort
Crucible Residency delivered after school hours. Self-selected motivated students, longer session blocks. Students continue project work in regular classes between sessions.
About the practitioner

Jeremy Entwistle holds an MFA in Sculpture with a focus on metalcasting from West Virginia University and spent seven years as a foundry manager and visiting assistant professor at Fairmont State University. He currently teaches sculpture at Union College and is VP of the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art (ICCCIA). His five-year research program developing a prototype iron cupolette fueled entirely by waste vegetable oil has been documented in published foundry reports and presented at national and international conferences including the 2025 NCCCIAP in Birmingham, with collaborative development at Auburn University and Skidmore College. French Mountain Studios is a working fine art foundry based in Lake George, NY — in the Adirondack Park.

Ready to bring a live metal pour to your campus?

Start with a single Spark session — one day, every student casts, fully mobile. We handle everything.

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entwisjj@gmail.com  ·  frenchmtnstudios.com  ·  Lake George, NY