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CHOOSING A FOUNDRY
There are a large number of art foundries across Europe, Australasia and in particular North America, where most US States have at least one art foundry, some like California and New York have dozens to choose from. The number of art foundries available (despite some closures during the GFC), gives the prospective client a great deal of choice as to where they can send their work for casting, especially if they are prepared to travel.
One of the best ways of finding a good founder is to get another artist's recommendation, or better still, get a personal introduction to the founder. An introduction is especially useful if the person introducing you is an important client of the foundry. Of course, getting a strong recommendation is not always possible, so it may be necessary to locate a foundry by other means. Yellow pages business directories are one starting point, also specialist arts magazines often carry classified adverts placed by art founders. The internet is another rich source of information, often with the added bonus of images, detailed service information and full contact details.
Whatever method is used to locate a potential founder, there are a number of issues artists need to consider before placing an order, some points that might apply are briefly discussed below.
• Location – there is much to said for using a local foundry, provided it offers the facilities and service levels demanded by the artist. Remember that a sculptor should ideally inspect all of their foundry waxes and also approve the finished cast before patination. Many artists also like to personally supervise the patination process. Fulfiling these commitments can mean repeated visits to the foundry as the work progresses. Attendance is easier if the foundry is local, or at least in a large city where other business (such as gallery visits), can be conducted in the same trip. As a rule, transporting artworks and travelling long distances is more acceptable if the sculptural design is of a large scale, or if a quantity of smaller pieces are being produced (which is one reason why some artists have their work cast in 'job lots').
• Process – and facilities available. For every ten investment casting foundries specialising in sculpture casting, there is perhaps one (or less), that also offers sand casting facilities; even fewer will have access to centrifugal or vacuum casting equipment. If a large sculptural design is being sand cast, the artist may have to travel some distance – unless of course they are lucky enough to be located near a foundry with the necessary facilities. Likewise, there are more art foundries casting work on a small scale than on a large scale, so an artist with a big commission may be obliged to look further away if their local foundry lacks the capacity to deal with the job in hand. In Australia there are no art foundries that offer both sand and lost wax casting, though many can arrange for work to be sand cast if required.
• Cost – as mentioned above, most countries offer plenty of art foundries to choose from. This generally keeps prices at a competitive level, especially in regions where there is over capacity. Cost naturally has to be balanced against the quality of work produced and these two issues typically go hand in hand. Few artists would be happy with a cast that is riddled with faults or poorly finished however low the founder’s price. It can also be a false economy to locate a cheaper foundry in some distant part of the country if the savings available are then diminished by transportation inconveniences and other expenses. It is a simple fact of life that the very best foundries will be able to charge premium prices and maintain lengthy waiting lists, whatever the general economic or competative climate.
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