The first ever Maine Coast Stone Symposium begins on Aug. 1 with a wide variety of programming about the historical and modern stone industry in Maine. Each week there will be new opportunities to attend events, tours, lectures and demonstrations. The Symposium is a collaboration between the Boothbay Railway Village and the Maine Stone Workers Guild.

The Maine Coast Stone Symposium is funded in part by an Arts & Humanities Grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Maine Humanities Council. It is made possible through the additional support of J.C. Stone, Knickerbocker Group, Maine Media Collective, Marshall Tent & Event Rental, Trow & Holden Company, Swenson Granite Works, Kennebec Equipment Rental, Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, Split Rock Distillery, Glidden Point Oysters, Stone Cove Catering, and Boothbay Craft Brewery.

History exhibit opens Aug. 1

The exhibit Built with Stone: The Story of Granite, Slate, and Limestone in Maine will be on view daily from Aug. 1-31 inside the 1847 Boothbay Town Hall. The exhibit looks at the geology of granite, slate and limestone, and traces the history of commercial quarrying in Maine, including its transportation by ox, sail, and rail.The exhibit is illustrated with photographs of buildings from across the country linked to maps of the old quarries from which each building came, with historic photographs of the quarries and quarry workers, 19th century quarrying tools and equipment, and samples of granite, slate and limestone.Reminiscences of 19th century quarrymen illustrate the personal side of quarrying history. 

Illustrated talk on Aug. 3

On Thursday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m., John R. Anderson will share the sometimes-harrowing adventures of his grandfather Captain Anders Anderson during an illustrated talk at the Museum.

In 1880 Anders Anderson left his family farm in Sweden at the age of sixteen.  He sailed around the world for six years, and in 1886 settled in Stonington, Maine to work in the granite quarries on Crotch Island.Eventually he returned to the sea and became a schooner captain, brought his brother and three sisters to America, married a lighthouse keeper’s daughter, and raised six children in Rockland, Maine. Anderson sailed mostly three-masted schooners along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean. For much of his career he sailed Maine granite southbound from quarries including Clark Island, Vinalhaven, and Somes Sound.  Anderson sailed schooners until 1932 and through four shipwrecks he never lost a crewman.  During one of those shipwrecks he kept his crew alive for two days and nights in an open dory in frigid February weather.

Rockland, Maine native John R. Anderson has transcribed and published over 30 years of his grandfather’s journals.John’s research on his grandfather has taken him to Sweden and to a Maine island to recover pieces of his grandfather’s ship and the granite it was carrying.He has recently completed a biography of Capt. Anderson “Borne on the Wind; The Life and Journals of Captain Anders Anderson.”

J.C. Stone open house Aug. 5

J.C. Stone owners Jaime and Kathy Carle are opening their Stone Center and production facilities from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5. Guests will be offered an exclusive behind the scenes look at modern granite production in Maine. There will be demonstrations by a variety of artists and artisans including dry stone wall building, pizza oven construction, sculpture and more.

J.C. Stone operates seven quarries throughout Maine as well as its production facilities in Jefferson. With these options of color and precision cutting abilities, J.C. Stone is able to supply contractors, architects, designers and artists with a wide variety of materials for art & architecture. J.C. Stone is providing the Maine granite for all 13 sculptors working at the Museum from August 11–21.

J.C. Stone is located at 545 Jefferson Rd (Route 17) in Jefferson, Maine. Admission to the open house is free. For more information contact J.C. Stone directly at 207-549-4729.

Slate carving demonstrations Aug. 5 and 6

Maine Stone Workers Guild member Jon Doody will be visiting the Museum to share his love of stone carving on Saturday and Sunday, August 5 and 6. You’ll find him near the 1847 Boothbay Town Hall and the Spruce Point Chapel between 10–4 on each date.

Doody started with wood carving and now prefers carving stone especially reclaimed stone from fireplace mantels, foundations, and other utilitarian applications. In one large marble piece reclaimed from a renovation of the State House in Augusta, Doody has begun carving a message welcoming new Mainers in several different languages. He enjoys the creativity and challenge of working with a wide variety of materials from slate to granite.

Aug. 8: Cabot Lyford, Maine Master Stone Sculptor

Cabot Lyford passed away in January of 2016 at the age of ninety, but worked stone until he was 85. His 60-year career is celebrated in a video produced for the Maine Arts Commission’s “Maine Masters” series. Cabot’s daughter, Julia Lyford Lane, will present a discussion of his inspiration and techniques sharing slides and anecdotes about his artistic legacy on Tuesday, Aug. 8 starting at 7 pm.

Cabot Lyford was highly regarded by peers and critics alike as one of the finest stone carvers in New England. Using native stone, sometimes found in local stone walls or on the shoreline as well as established quarries, he produced hundreds of pieces, many monumental, which appear in both private collections and public places throughout the country. He created dynamic, sensuous, sometimes whimsical figures using rudimentary tools and “reading” the stone to release the images. One of his best known and well beloved pieces portrays leaping dolphins, titled “Life Force” which stands in the courtyard of a hotel in the Old Port, Portland.

Don Justin Meserve sculpture raffle

Two sculptures by the late Don Justin Meserve have been selected as prizes for a raffle during the Maine Coast Stone Symposium. Best known for artworks carved in granite and basalt, Don Justin Meserve (1938 – 2010) loved to demonstrate sculpting methods, particularly at the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, where he completed a massive installation piece for the waterfront at Winter Harbor, and at the J.C. Stone Symposium in 2010. A teacher at heart, Don nurtured many protégés and influenced a generation of Maine sculptors. Don bequeathed 56 stone sculptures to the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium to be sold to promote art education in Maine.

Raffle tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25. They are for sale inside Freeport Station at the Museum, where the works can also be viewed, through Aug. 21. All proceeds from this raffle will be split between Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium and the Boothbay Railway Village to support the Maine Coast Stone Symposium. Winners will be drawn on Monday, Aug. 21 at the Gala Celebration for the Artists.

All talks will take place inside the 1847 Boothbay Town Hall at the Museum. A donation of $5 is suggested and proceeds will benefit the Museum’s general operating fund. The exhibit, Built with Stone,is open daily. The exhibit and any scheduled demonstrations are free with regular Museum admission of $12 adults, $10 seniors, $6 children 3-18, children under 3 and Museum Members are free. For details about any of the programs that make up the Maine Coast Stone Symposium or to order tickets for the Gala Celebration for the Artist on Monday, Aug. 21 visit www.railwayvillage.org or call 207-633-4727.