Speed Salon: Talks + Theory
Speed Salon: Talks + Theory
Speed Salon brings together artists, scholars, filmmakers, and cultural thinkers for engaging talks and conversation. Each session features a presentation followed by Q&A, offering attendees the chance to think deeply, ask questions, and engage with contemporary ideas and creative work. The program is designed for adults, students, and those who enjoy focused discussion in a supportive environment.
Cost: $20/non-member adult, $15/member adult, $5/student
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Topic: Matt Weir on Work in Sculpture and the Fulcrum for Yesterday to Tomorrow: A Bronze Casting Legacy Transitions
In this talk, Matt Weir explores his sculpture practice—his entry into the field, projects, materials, and challenges—while connecting his development to the history of Bright Foundry and its transition to Falls Art Foundry, a bronze casting foundry that has supported artists in Louisville and the region for 50 years. The talk will especially interest students, beginners, artists, and philanthropists engaged with Louisville’s evolving sculpture scene.
Matt Weir is a Louisville–based sculptor working in stone, bronze, and mixed media. His work is nurtured by a deep interest in the natural world and its influence on behavior. Through a broad material practice, his body of artwork explores the relationships between behavior, environment, and identity.
Weir graduated cum laude with a BFA from the University of Louisville Hite Art Institute in 2004, with minors in Humanities and Art History. During this time, he apprenticed with a diverse range of professional artists and studios, most notably Bright Foundry, a bronze art foundry. After Bright Foundry closed in 2016, Weir co-organized the team that continued its legacy as Falls Art Foundry, where he works to support, educate, and expose artists to the lost-wax casting process and Louisville’s unique sculptural tradition.
Notable works from Weir’s portfolio include the 100-ton limestone land artwork Earth Measure at Bernheim Forest in Clermont; Lithostill, a monumental stone, copper, and stainless steel sculpture at Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto; the bronze Panthera tigris at St. Xavier High School in Louisville; and Presence, a geologically orienting “you are here” marker installed in downtown Louisville.
For the past twelve years, Matt has been preoccupied with a piece of petrified wood in an ongoing body of work titled The Petrified Wood* Project. This exhaustive artwork is an effort to understand a profound object by narrating its passage through a human moment.
Weir maintains a personal studio in Louisville. He lives near New Albany with his partner, musician Heather Summers, and their son, Francis.
