Sloss Metal Arts Crew
Virginia Elliott
Metal Arts Director
Virginia Elliott is a sculptor whose process-driven practice spans metalworking, fiber arts, and mold making, engaging material histories and systems of production. She received her BFA from the University of Cincinnati and has worked with a range of production studios, sculpture parks, and arts nonprofits throughout the South and Midwest, including Rookwood Pottery, Josephine Sculpture Park, and Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum.
Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Virginia is the Metal Arts Director at Sloss Furnaces, where she leads programming, artist residencies, and educational initiatives at the historic blast furnace site, now preserved as a museum and cultural landmark. In addition to her role at Sloss, she serves on the board of the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance and as Ex Officio for the National Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art and Practices.
Ajene Williams
Senior Artist in Residence
Williams began his art training while attending Woodlawn High School, where he was taught and mentored by Jena Momenee. Momenee enrolled him in the Summer Youth Program at Sloss Furnaces, where he was quickly recognized as a gifted artist, winning first place in the program’s exhibition. Thereafter, Williams was invited to work at Sloss Furnaces in 2011 as a paid intern. He currently holds the prestigious title of Artist in Residence at Sloss Furnaces.
As a child, Ajene wanted to be a magician, “but I was never very good,” he says. It didn’t take long for him to realize that it wasn’t the magician’s equipment that made illusions, but rather the way the magician would use his hands. “Hands are magic,” he explains, “We can create anything with our hands, if we are able to imagine it.” Williams is gifted at manifesting exactly what he sees in perfect proportion, perfect harmony. Yet, he no longer seeks to create illusion with his magic. Now, he seeks only to show the world’s deepest, most often missed truths.
Gwen Kelling
Artist in Residence
Gwen earned her BA in Studio Art and Botany at Ohio Wesleyan University in 2016 and her MFA in Sculpture at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale in 2024, with a five year interim as head bronze bell-maker at the Verdin foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gwen’s affinities for foundry processes and heavy machinery are the core inspirations for her metalwork, which spatially conflate the artist, her devices of creative industry, and the sculptural objects birthed from their integration. These hybrid objects provide physical manifestations for the cyclical sociopolitical mechanisms currently operating to control gender expression and attack queerness. Gwen visualizes these abstract systems and the trans body as equally capable of major overhaul, restoration, and reinvention.
Recent recognitions for Gwen’s work include winning the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award in 2023 and a feature in the 2023 Bureau of Queer Art Volume II, a magazine collection of international LGBTQIA+ artists and art with an accompanying podcast and hybrid online/in-person exhibition.
Reiss Larkin
Artist in Residence
Ian Skinner
Foundry Manager
Ian Skinner is an artist and maker from Jacksonville, FL currently working in Birmingham, AL. He received a BFA from The University of North Florida and MFA from The University of Mississippi. After completing his MFA, Skinner worked as a blacksmithing apprentice at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, TN. His studio practice is a sculptural exploration of material, form, surface, and craft that elevates commonly seen elements found within both industrial and natural environments. While emphasizing the original design aesthetics of industrial objects, the works recontextualize these reclaimed elements as art objects showcasing remnants of our past as artifacts to be valued.
Cecelia Moseley
Operations Manager
Cecelia Moseley is a multimedia artist from Meridian, Mississippi, whose work explores the complexities of language, perception, and learning. She works with a diverse range of materials—including metal, acrylic, paper, ceramics, styrofoam, light, and vinyl—to create vibrant, immersive installations. Her work often draws from her personal experiences with dyslexia and learning differences. Moseley’s most recent work highlights the fading presence of cursive and handwriting in schools, examining what is lost when traditional forms of writing are no longer taught in a technology driven culture.
She earned her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Mississippi in 2020 and her MFA from Louisiana State University in 2024. Beyond her studio work, Moseley is the Operations Manager at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, AL, and serves as the Social Media Director for the Yokna Sculpture Trail in Oxford, MS. She has also taught sculpture and assisted galleries at LSU, where she was awarded the Dean’s Medal in recognition of her academic and creative achievements.
Adri Hawkins
Artist in Residence
Adrianna Hawkins is a multimedia artist from Louisiana and earned her BFA from Louisiana
State University. Adrianna experimented with several mediums before finding deep connection
in cast metal and fibers. Using these materials, she explores the contrast of comfort and
discomfort for what it adds to the human experience. In her work with metal, she continually returns to the idea of immortalizing comfort and how it can go hand in hand with unsettling experiences. In her process of sewing, specifically quilting, she engages the material for its roots in comfort and rest to contrast the uncomfortable truths and awarenesses she dissects for the viewer.
Get to Know Us
Sloss Metal Arts Staff & Foundry Crew
The Sloss Metal Arts staff and foundry crew support the daily operation of Sloss Furnaces’ historic iron foundry. They oversee foundry operations, maintenance, safety, and fabrication while supporting artists, workshops, and public programs. The crew plays a key role in education, community engagement, and preserving Sloss’ industrial legacy through contemporary metal arts.
Resident Artists (3-Year Work-Residency)
Resident Artists are full-time, 3-year work-residency artists at Sloss Metal Arts. They balance personal studio practice with foundry work, including iron casting, fabrication, maintenance, and teaching. Responsibilities include producing commissioned works, participating in national conferences, leading on-site demonstrations, and maintaining the foundry and shop. Working closely with Sloss leadership, Resident Artists contribute to commissions, outreach, and programming while actively developing their own artistic practice.