At FeLion Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, Alisa Toninato and Andrew McManigal decided to begin an amazing art installation project: the United States of America in cast-iron form. Each state is a skillet and when paired together with the other 48 contiguous U.S. states, it forms the entire landscape of the country.
FeLion Studios first and foremost is a "design/build sculpture studio specializing in cast iron art, custom castings and commercial commissions. Toninato originally began with cast iron skillets in the shape of her home state Wisconsin — but when she saw the interest level, she decided to tackle the entire contiguous country.
The 48-state map was funded on Kickstarter successfully and debuted at ArtPrize, a Michigan non-profit organization where 400,000 attendees view art from around the world throughout Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Anyone can participate — but Alisa Toninato dominated.
After showing at ArtPrize, Toninato took her art installation to Martha Stewart, who always knows good Americana when she sees it.
Toninato says she formed the map on the airplane to California and knew it was her way to contribute something to history.
Let's take a closer look at the cast iron state-shaped skillets. Only 50 pans of each state will ever be produced.
Note: There are only skillets representing the 48 contiguous states - we're not purposely skipping Alaska and Hawaii, so we found something special.
1. Alabama
Available for purchase for $500.00.
2. Alaska
Though not included in the cast iron skillet series, this Alaska-shaped cutting board and serving platter makes up for the absence.
Find it here for $63.00.
3. Arizona
Available for purchase for $750.00.
4. Arkansas
Available for purchase for $450.00.
5. California
Available for purchase for $1,500.00.
6. Colorado
Available for purchase for $700.00.
7. Connecticut
Available for purchase for $250.00.
8. Delaware
Available for purchase for $250.00.
9. Florida
Available for purchase for $700.00.
10. Georgia
Available for purchase for $500.00.
11. Hawaii
Though not included in the cast iron skillet series, this Hawaii-shaped cutting board and serving platter makes up for the absence.
Find it here for $63.00.
12. Idaho
Available for purchase for $750.00.
13. Illinois
Available for purchase for $600.00.
14. Indiana
Available for purchase for $500.00.
15. Iowa
Available for purchase for $500.00.
16. Kansas
Available for purchase for $600.00.
17. Kentucky
Available for purchase for $550.00.
18. Louisiana
Available for purchase for $550.00.
19. Maine
Available for purchase for $450.00.
20. Maryland
Available for purchase for $450.00.
21. Massachusetts
Available for purchase for $250.00.
22. Michigan
Available for purchase for $850.00.
23. Minnesota
Available for purchase for $700.00.
24. Mississippi
Available for purchase for $500.00.
25. Missouri
Available for purchase for $700.00.
26. Montana
Available for purchase for $900.00.
27. Nebraska
Available for purchase for $600.00.
28. Nevada
Available for purchase for $750.00.
29. New Hampshire
Available for purchase for $250.00.
30. New Jersey
Available for purchase for $250.00.
31. New Mexico
Available for purchase for $750.00.
32. New York
Available for purchase for $700.00.
33. North Carolina
Available for purchase for $600.00.
34. North Dakota
Available for purchase for $600.00.
35. Ohio
Available for purchase for $500.00.
36. Oklahoma
Available for purchase for $700.00.
37. Oregon
Available for purchase for $700.00.
38. Pennsylvania
Available for purchase for $550.00.
39. Rhode Island
Available for purchase for $150.00.
40. South Carolina
Available for purchase for $450.00.
41. South Dakota
Available for purchase for $600.00.
42. Tennessee
Available for purchase for $550.00.
43. Texas
Available for purchase for $2,500.00.
44. Utah
Available for purchase for $600.00.
45. Vermont
Available for purchase for $250.00.
46. Virginia
Available for purchase for $600.00.
47. Washington
Available for purchase for $500.00.
48. West Virginia
Available for purchase for $450.00.
49. Wisconsin
Available for purchase for $600.00.
50. Wyoming
Available for purchase for $700.00.
That's not all, though. Check out some of these pans in action. Looks like we have New York and Wisconsin up first.
Here we have some New Jersey eggs, quite literally.
Nothing tastes as good out of a round skillet after trying these state-shaped skillets.
Like what you're seeing? Head on over to FeLion Studios to see more photos of the skillets in action and maybe splurge on one yourself.
