08/27/2026
Memento mori is the Latin phrase meaning “remember death.” In this weekend workshop siblings scottie and Brienna Hall teach the ancient practice of sand casting intertwined with ritual and intention.
Through metalworking, fire, and guided ceremony, students cast a personal keepsake imbued with meaning and memory. Participants will explore the history of sand casting and be guided through the process from cradle to grave: making a mold, safely using a torch, casting with molten metal, and finishing a bespoke piece.
This is an invitation to reflect on impermanence, grief, and loss. We will look to death as a teacher, hold life gently as students, and remember that we too will die.
Participants are encouraged to bring a cherished object, cremains of a loved one, symbolic material, or a personal offering to incorporate into their piece. As part of our two-day ritual, teachers and students will co-create an altar and ceremony to honor the significance of the memento mori practice.
This workshop is open to all levels of experience. The only prerequisite is a willingness to reflect on the impermanence of life through ritual, storytelling, memories, and art making.
Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, Minneapolis,MN
Nov 7-8th
scottie hall (ze|zir) is a Minneapolis-based artist, hospice chaplain, budding harpist, and childless cat q***r. Ze invites hospice patients and their circles of care to meet death with curiosity, self-discovery, and radical acceptance. A longtime Buddhist practitioner, scottie holds a MDiv from United Theological Seminary of Twin Cities where their studies included Interreligious Chaplaincy and Theopoetics.
Brienna Hall is a jewelry artist and educator based in Mendocino, California, with a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Fiber Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute. Through her practice, Shrine Jewelry, she explores themes of memory, impermanence, and transformation using sand casting, fabrication and recycled precious metals. Brienna teaches regularly in California and loves the joy and spontaneity that sand casting brings—she’s passionate about sharing that excitement through teaching and helping others create meaningful, personal work.
“This was my very first time creating something from sand casting. I was a little bit nervous to try it because I really didn't know what to expect. With the excellent guidance from the artists teaching the class, it was very easy to catch on and I actually created a test piece and a keepsake to remember my youngest son, who passed away when he was 12 years old.”
—Workshop participant
“The poetry and readings as we gathered around the altar beginning and ending each day. Sharing the love and memories of the ones we are missing and grieving for. The gentle encouragement each of us received when something didn't go quite right. Realizing I could learn this ancient art of sand casting in a weekend! WOW!!”
—Workshop participant
