From Saturday, July 27 through Sunday, Aug. 4, the public is encouraged to visit the Boothbay Common to meet eight accomplished Maine sculptors along with their guests from Japan and Canada as they create works of art from granite and other stone. The artists will work with a wide variety of hand and power tools to create pieces that will be sold at the Boothbay Region Land Trust's Points of View Art Auction on Thursday, August 8, or later join the Boothbay Harbor Region Sculpture Trail.

Artists enthusiastically invite the public to interact with them and watch the sculptures develop. It is sometimes noisy and dusty, but always fun to watch. Admission to the Symposium is free and open to all ages from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

The biennial Maine Stone Symposium is built upon the success of the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposiums, the J.C. Stone Symposiums as well as the Viles Arboretum Symposiums. It brings together Maine artists and international guests every other summer. The first was held at the Boothbay Railway Village in August of 2017. The Symposium is a program of the Maine Stone Workers Guild.

2019 participating artists include Andreas von Huene (Arrowsic), Mark Herrington (Franklin), Roy Patterson (Gray), William Royall (Southport), Dick Alden (East Boothbay), Dan Ucci (Pittston), Isabel Catherine Kelley (Portland), and Chris Lewis (Southport.)

The Maine artists are joined by Mai Morita and Shotaro Misake of Japan as well as Valisis Vasili from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Morita and Misake are traveling to Maine through the support of the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium. Vasili is a Greek contemporary sculptor. His public work can be seen in Greece, Cyprus, Canada, Turkey, Germany, Albania and the US.

A large part of the Maine Stone Workers Guild’s mission and the sole purpose of its Education Fund is to train the next generation of artists and craftspeople. Stone is one of the most challenging mediums in the art world. Artists must not only learn about design and form but to be successful they also study geology and the characteristics of the stone they work with. To that end, two recent graduates from the Maine College of Art, Jude Collopy and Hideto Nakao, are attending the Symposium as assistants. Both studied under Professor Joshua Reiman, who also chairs the Sculpture Department at MECA.

A Commemorative Guide featuring profiles of all the artists along with samples of their work will be available in the welcome tent with a suggestion donation of $5. A pop-up gallery of smaller works will be available to view as well as for purchase. A fundraising raffle will be held for “Vessel with Hole” by the late Don Meserve. He was a teacher at heart and one of Maine's most beloved artists. When Meserve passed away, he transferred ownership of many of his works with the stipulation that they be sold to support arts education projects.  Tickets will be $5 each or five for $20, all proceeds support the Guild’s educational programs.

The Maine Stone Symposium is made possible through financial support from Knickerbocker Group, J.C. Stone, Down East Magazine, Midcoast Hospitality (Linekin Bay Resort, Newagen Seaside Inn, Russell House Bed & Breakfast and the Sheepscot Harbour Village Resort & Water’s Edge), Bath Savings Institution, Studio 53 Fine Art, Kennebec Rental, Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, Topside Inn, Sweet Bay Shops, Down East Gallery, Tugboat Inn, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Tindall & Callahan Real Estate, The Inns at Greenleaf Lane, Gleason Fine Art, Sawyer Island Consulting, E.M. Wood Construction, June LaCombe Sculpture, Coastal Prime Seaside Dining, Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Golf Resort, Boothbay Harbor Country Club, The Thistle Inn, Oak Street Café & Catering, Ports of Italy/Ports Pizza, Pinkham’s Gourmet Market, East Boothbay General Store, T & D Variety, Cod’s Head Fish House & BBQ, Mine Oyster, Blue Moon Café, Caper’s Deli & Catering, Ledge Hill Creations, Estate of John Hart Fish, Campbell Marine, Uncle Phil’s Bakery, and William L. Royall Sculpture Garden.

For more information about the Maine Stone Symposium or its partner activities including the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce’s Sculpture Trail and the Boothbay Region Land Trust’s Points of View Art Auction, visit sculptureboothbay.com.