Mebane Metal Sculptor Elsa Hoffman Named Starworks' First Artist-in-Residence

Elsa Hoffman, a Mebane sculptor whose metal work is held by Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the Raleigh Municipal Art Collection, and a University of North Carolina commission installed in Lilongwe, Malawi, was named the first dedicated metal artist-in-residence at Starworks, the Moore County center for creative enterprise in Star.

Hoffman, who works from a barn-studio hybrid she built on a 40-acre grain farm in Mebane, came to metalworking in 2012 when she first handled a handheld plasma cutter and recognized its potential as a drawing tool. That discovery reoriented a practice already grounded in sculpture and furniture-making: she had spent the prior decade assisting site-specific sculptor Patrick Dougherty after earning a BA in studio art and environmental studies from Oberlin College in 2010. Her current work spans plasma cutting, direct concrete application onto steel armatures, and the translation of cut-metal designs into textile patterns, exploring what she describes as the gestural qualities of metal and concrete.

The residency places Hoffman inside a facility that has been expanding its metals infrastructure in scale. Starworks moved its metals studio into a new space exceeding 10,000 square feet as of 2023, broadening its welding, blacksmithing, and casting workshops alongside the iron pour that anchors the center's annual Firefest event. The center formally incorporated metals as a full programming pillar alongside ceramics and glass in January 2022; the Hoffman appointment is its first dedicated long-term artist residency in the medium.

She stepped into the role just days before her first major public appearance under it: Hoffman is a featured artist at Firefest 2026, Starworks' two-day celebration of fire-based art scheduled for April 3 and 4, where general admission runs $10 per day and the program includes live demonstrations, workshops, artist talks, and campus tours.

Hoffman's institutional profile extends well beyond North Carolina. Her work is held in the Gregg Museum of Art and Design and the Julian and Josie Robertson Collection in New York City, and she has completed prior residencies at The Steel Yard in Providence, Rhode Island and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. At Starworks, the residency model connects artists to public demonstrations, workshop instruction, and gallery sales, providing the institutional footing that independent studio practice rarely affords.

For Mebane, the appointment extends the city's creative community into a regional network that draws collectors and participants from across the Carolinas, with one of its own now at the center of it.