Artist Ana Iti (left) and Sophie Coupland pictured during the installation of the work ‘Reaching Across a Great Distance’. (Photo: Sophie Coupland, CouplandCormackArt) The work was commissioned for Precinct Properties and fabricated with the support of Gillies Metaltech.
Crucible Art Studios
From Concept to Cast – Bringing Art to Life
The Crucible Art Studios is the creative workshop operating within the Gillies Metaltech foundry operation.
Services
Crucible Art Studios supports arts fabrication at Gillies Metaltech Ltd. It provides resources and capability to assist artists with their creative works. We also facilitate the Crucible Artist Residency programme in partnership with the Hynds Foundation.
Our custom foundry capability enables small- and large-scale productions to be developed in concept, designed in SolidEdge, cast, assembled and prepared in accordance with the artist’s brief.
Collaboration with the artist will explore art piece dimensions, drawings, 3D modelling options for pattern-making.
Once the piece is cast, we can provided finishing processes such as fettling and blasting.
Crucible Gallery
The Crucible Gallery is a two storey historic stone building now converted into a public space for art exhibitions.
The building was first constructed in 1880 and housed the Ōamaru Mail, the town’s first newspaper press. It was later converted into a grain store, and after that was a butchery, before Gillies purchased it to be the laboratory and pattern store for its foundry operation.
Art curating is performed in-house with the Hynds Foundation art programme. Art pieces may be available for sale via the Hynds Foundation Artist Residency.
Hynds Foundation
Crucible Artist Residency
In the heart of the Ōamaru Historic Precinct where traces of the area’s industrious past are everywhere, we collaborate with the Hynds Foundation to provide a unique backdrop for creative endeavours.
Artists are based in the spacious, light-filled Crucible Art Studios. It’s a space where Pattern Makers have used traditional wood working skills to meticulously craft patterns, from which moulds would be made, ready to receive molten metal.
In addition to their studio, adjacent gallery spaces provide a variety of contexts where artist residents may choose to share work and connect with new audiences.
The opportunity to work alongside foundry technicians is another unique aspect of the programme context.
Artists are selected through an application process that invites proposals. Visit the Crucible Artist Residency page for further information.
