Coral Lambert is Professor of Sculpture and Director of the National Casting Center Foundry at Alfred University. Over the span of her long career sharing experiences and exchanging knowledge with others has always been equally important to her practice as an artist. She founded the USUK Cast Iron Sculpture Symposium, an international exchange program in 1997 and has pioneered Iron Casting Residencies at several organizations such as Franconia Sculpture Park, MN and Salem Art Works, NY. In 2000 she co-founded New Orleans Sculpture Lab where she held international workshops in her foundry and produced public sculpture. She Co-Chaired the 5th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art in 2006 taking it overseas for the first time to the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, UK. She remains an active steering committee member and supporter of the ICCCIA where she regularly participates in panels, demos and exhibitions. She is an original Iron Maiden and has introduced Iron Casting to many artists, universities and non profit organizations helping to build furnaces and provide the knowledge and inspiration for artists to be self sufficient.
TEACHING philosophy
Fundamental to Lambert's teaching philosophy is to build a strong sense of community that provides a platform for students of all levels to engage in critical dialog and develop a creative visual voice through the act of making art. She believes in the importance and value of real life experiences and has been known to throw her students in at the deep end. With her encouragement and empowerment they often exhibit and present their work at national and international conferences alongside professionals. She is proactive in creating opportunities for them to become leaders in the field and enjoys supporting their careers beyond the classroom.
The majority of her teaching and academic research is engaged in metal casting drawing upon its rich 5000 year old historical references of ritual, industry, origin of material, fuel usage and future technology. Her curriculum examines the act and art of foundry, from building furnaces through to the cast object using ancient clay molding techniques through to industrial sand molding, fine art ceramic shell and digital prototype technology.