The Artist Clark, left, talks about the metal pouring process with Shepherdstown residents Gay Shepherd Henderson and Marianne Beckett, right, on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Glowing, hot metal could be seen being poured into square molds in the parking lot of Alma Bea over the weekend, as part of “Reach,” Shepherd University’s final sculpture capstone exhibit.

According to Phaze 2 Gallery Director and Lecturer of Art Evan Boggess, who teaches the capstone class, the capstone project is actually being completed a year earlier than anticipated, due to the discontinuation of the sculpture program at Shepherd at the end of this school year. The program’s interim coordinator and only faculty member, Kay Dartt, will also be leaving the university, after helping the program’s final student complete the necessary program prerequisites for graduation in 2025.

“I am the last sculpting major,” said The Artist Clark, before expressing her sorrow at the loss of the program and of Dartt, who is considered a celebrity in the metal pouring community. “I was kind of told that it would be in my best interest to do my capstone a year early, while they still had a professor who could judge the quality of my art. Most people have a year or two to work on their capstone, but I only had this semester to get my capstone together.”

In spite of this tight deadline, Clark whipped together an immersive artistic experience, revolving around the dying art of metal pouring. “Reach” features not only works of art composed of hand shapes in bronze and aluminum, but also live demonstrations of metal pouring. Attendees can pay to have Clark create a metal tile out of a design they create, or simply stop by from around 6-8 p.m. each evening, to take in the metal-pouring process.

“This is my therapy and my way to bring this art to the community and try to engage with people,” Clark said, noting that “Reach” focuses on Clark’s personal path to healing, following four years of traumatic experiences while serving in a special intelligence unit within the U.S. Navy.

An aluminum hands reaches down to pull up a bronze hand, in The Artist Clark’s capstone exhibit, “Reach,” on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

Clark described being in the Navy as feeling “like a disposable number.” After getting out of the Navy, Clark gradually came to realize how scarring the experience had been, as the secretive, special intelligence work was obsessively focused on winning conflicts, regardless of its impact on civilians.

“As I was getting out, I was seeking mental health help and realized I had become detached and had developed a very dark sense of reality,” Clark said. “It’s very horrible to think that, at one time, people just said we should just hit the Middle East with fire enough to turn it all to glass! That is a very dangerous line of thinking.”

Some of Clark’s pieces in the exhibit use only one kind of metal, while others feature hands made out of bronze and aluminum, to represent those who reached out to help Clark through the healing process.

“The bronze and aluminum metals I use, represent the different types of weight people carry,” Clark said. “For those involved with mental health struggles and family trying to help ease the situation, without carrying that same weight, connecting can be very challenging. But at the end of the day, I don’t want people to stop reaching out. [Please] don’t care if people say that they’re fine — keep reaching out.”

“Reach” will continue to be held through this weekend, from 4-8 p.m. tonight through Sunday.

Community members gather around the metal pouring exhibit, “Reach,” on Friday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston