Watch “The Masons of Djenne”
This 5-minute mini-documentary, produced by anthropologist Trevor Marchand, captures a unique and very old building technique with handmade masonry that was perfected through generations in Djenne, Mali.
Watch “The Future Is Handmade”
A Dutch archaeologist finds artisans and thought leaders who are redefining craft, skill and, ultimately, the real meaning of a knowledge economy. A Craftsmanship mini-documentary.
The Sculptor vs. The Robots
As automation spreads, even into the world of fine art, an American sculptor proudly holds the barricades with the tools, techniques, and even the marble source used centuries ago by Michelangelo. Which side will prevail?
By THOMAS COOPER
Carving in Stone: Where to Go for Sculpting Classes
The National Sculpture Society’s executive director, Gwen Pier, has found that Fred Brownstein—the marble sculptor profiled in our Winter 2023 feature, “The Sculptor vs. The Robots“—is being joined by more and more sculptors who love doing figurative work. “There has been a swing back,” she says. In the 1950s, there was a rebellion against figurative…
America’s Oldest Marble Quarry
If Fred Brownstein were to dig down in his backyard, he would likely strike marble in very short order; numerous veins of marble run down the western side of the Vermont’s Green Mountains, where he and I both live. In fact, the country’s first marble quarry opened in my hometown of Dorset, in 1785, followed…
Watch “The Ancient Mangle of Santarcangelo di Romagna”
In a tiny town on Italy’s Northeastern coast, the Marchi family printworks may be the world’s last shop to produce handmade, rust-printed textiles from raw hemp, using a massive stone press dating to the 1600s.
Colorado’s Marble Motherlode
Deep in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, almost hidden in a steep canyon that bottoms out 8,000 feet above sea level, sits an old mining town that provided marble for some of America’s most famous memorials. Abandoned and revived over and over through the years, the town of Marble is now enjoying another new life, in both industry and the arts.
Written by DENISE MOSS
Photography by DENISE MOSS and TODD OPPENHEIMER
Marble’s Mountain Workshop
Ever since it was established, in 1989, the Marble/marble Symposium (held, not surprisingly, in the town of Marble, Colorado) has grown in national and even international acclaim. Every summer, the event offers three 8-day sessions to sculptors of all interests and skill levels. The sessions, which accommodate 45 participants, include five teachers, an array of…
