53,768: A Performance in Hot Metal

Ashleigh receiving her grant from NAWF vice-president Jon Roper.

Supported by the NAWF, Welsh sculptor Ashleigh Harrold is performing at this year’s International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Scranton, PA.

Her performance, entitled 53,768,celebrates the number of Welsh miners that emigrated to Scranton in the early 1800s and will use the two symbols of Scranton’s Welsh history - the Red Dragon and the Electric City Light Bulb.

Ashleigh will pour iron through the head of a Welsh red dragon to cascade out of the mouth and eyes into a mould of the Scranton light bulb, illustrating how the Welsh helped form the industry of iron and steel in Scranton. The mould will then be cracked open revealing a glowing bulb, much like the one seen on the Scranton Electric Building.

Ashleigh is a sculptor and hot metal artist, specializing in cast iron.  A native of Tredegar in the heart of the iron-making South Wales Valleys, she attended Carmarthen School of Art from 2014-2017.

The performance takes place at the Historic Furnaces, Scranton PA. on Friday 1 June 2018 between 8-10pm

STUDENT CELEBRATES SCRANTON'S WELSH HERITAGE
A young artist from Tredegar, heart of iron smelting area of South Wales,  is being helped by the NAWF to exhibit at the Conference of Contemporary Cast Iron Art in Scranton Pennsylvania this summer.

Ashleigh Harrold is a graduate of the Carmarthen School of Art, the only university in the UK teaching students to cast iron.  The conference organisers invited her to present her performance sculpture consisting of a wooden and iron dragon that will emit flames through its mouth before consuming itself.  The performance is named 53,678, signifying the number of people who migrated from Wales to the Scranton area in the nineteenth century.

Prof Jon Roper  Vice President NAWF (Wales), described Ashleigh as a highly motivated and talented artist who was a deserved recipient of the award.  Ashleigh described her work as a celebration of the Welsh-American heritage of the Scranton area.  She was delighted to receive the bursary as it allowed her to book her airfare to Pennsylvania. 

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