Valentine’s Day Iron Pour Welcomes Metalsmiths and the Metal-Curious

Collaboration, mentorship, and experimentation are at the heart of Pour’n Yer Heart Out, an annual community event in Wisconsin’s capital city.

By Kasey Payette
February 9, 2026

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Photo courtesy of Alisa Toninato

Metalsmiths tend the small cupola where they melt iron to pour into molds at the first Pour’n Yer Heart Out, which took place in the courtyard of Alisa Toninato’s Milwaukee studio in 2010.

This Valentine’s Day weekend marks the 17th year of Pour’n Yer Heart Out, a community iron pour organized by Madison, Wisconsin–based foundry and design company FeLion Studios. The weekend’s events are open to anyone who’d like to try their hand at metal casting, with beginner-friendly workshops on offer, as well as opportunities for experienced metalsmiths to develop their casting projects.

FeLion Studios founder Alisa Toninato has a degree in sculpture from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, but she knew early in her career that she didn’t care about showing work in galleries. “I loved metal casting and wanted to work in a field that allowed me to make something giant, publicly accessible, and positively impactful,” she says.

This year’s event will be held on the grounds of Garvey Feed Mill, a historic building on Madison’s Near East Side. Festivities will kick off the evening of Friday, February 13, with a ticketed pre-party featuring outdoor saunas and Bierstacheln, or beer poking, the German tradition of plunging red-hot metal rods into ice-cold beer. Then, on the morning of February 14, the pour will begin in earnest. Starting with community sand-mold carving, small-scale tin casting, and wintery conviviality, the day will progress toward the main event, where Toninato and other experts will melt 2,000 pounds of iron in a large cupola furnace and ladle it into the premade molds.

Photo courtesy of Alisa Toninato

Toninato cast her first Wisconsin Skillet at the first Pour’n Yer Heart Out in 2010. This skillet led to the creation of the Made In America cast-iron skillet map, which debuted at ArtPrize in 2011 and was showcased on the Martha Stewart show in 2012.

“I loved metal casting and wanted to work in a field that allowed me to make something giant, publicly accessible, and positively impactful.”

— Alisa Toninato

In the days and weeks leading up to the iron pour, FeLion Studios hosted a series of mold-making workshops in Madison, giving community members a chance to create their own molds from clay or sand in a guided environment. This year, the sand-mold workshop on the morning of the pour will be the last in this series.

A spirit of collaboration, mentorship, and experimentation has been integral to Pour’n Yer Heart Out since its conception. Over Valentine’s Day weekend in 2010, Toninato organized a small iron pour in the courtyard of her Milwaukee studio. At the time, she was new to foundry operations, and she credits the cadre of experienced artists who attended with keeping this first pour on track. Toninato invited participants to bring their own molds. “One of my favorite molds was an experimental wood mold with a bunch of hearts roughly cut into it using a spade bit,” she recalls. “The results were hilariously beautiful, as iron burned each wooden heart severely, while casting the most awesome burnt-wood textures into them.”

Heading into the 17th year of Pour’n Yer Heart Out, Toninato emphasizes that the event is open to anyone interested in “fire, meeting people, learning something different, and trying something radical.” For those attending for the first time, she recommends preparing for hours outside in the cold. “Wear your long johns,” Toninato says. “It’s a crazy idea to pour iron in the dead of winter, but when you have hundreds of people showing up in different ways to help make it happen, you just pull on your wool socks and get out there.”

Photo courtesy of Alisa Toninato

Toninato’s first cupola furnace.

Kasey Payette is a writer and editor based in Minneapolis.

Learn more about FeLion Studios and Pour'n Yer Heart Out online.

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