Saturday in Santa Fe

Today was our first full day in Santa Fe. It was hot but we kept busy anyway. One of our stops was to Shidoni Foundry and Gallery in Tesuque just a 10 minute drive from Santa Fe. They have two huge fields full of sculptures, but we were there to see the bronze pour that the public is allowed to see only once a week.

The bronze must heat to around 2000 degrees farenheit before it can be poured.


The workers have donned their fashionable heat resistant outfits before the pour can begin. The pour does not start until precisely 2:45PM. You can see by the clock on the right that there is a minute to go. The workers have been diligently watching the clock.


Here are the molds getting positioned for the pour. There is a winch in the ceiling that is used to lift and move all the heavy equipment. It is very loud and very hot during the pour.


You can see the hot bronze being poured into the molds. It took about seven minutes for the whole event. However, there was a lot of prep work before the pour can occur. I was told that the molds can be broken and opened in an hour. The metal will still be hot. Usually, they put the filled molds aside for the weekend and open them on Mondays.


Steve met a new friend in the sculpture garden. He was quite friendly, not menacing at all.