We are a family of stone sculptors.
And our trade is endangered.
In the only stone carvers guild in America, there are approximately 30 members. The majority are past their 60's, and to our knowledge currently none of them have an apprentice.
Stone carving and sculpture is part of the history of almost every culture. Stone is the most used material to hold the knowledge of human history.
This is worth saving.
As a family, it has been our mission to preserve this endangered art. I learned the art of stone sculpting from a master sculptor in Ireland. This man taught me freely, asking only that I do all I can to keep the trade alive. Since that time, I have.
Preserving my trade has become my life's purpose.
I've taught my children. I've taught free classes to people from all walks of life, changing their lives. I teach at festivals, at universities.
But we need to make this bigger.
And we have found a way.
We are going to teach stone sculpture to 21 people, with the intention of those people to teach more.
This will create an immense wave of resurgence in this disappearing art.
We will not be charging the students for this.
Why?
Because financial ability should have absolutely nothing to do with a hands on, life changing education.
Every day, we run into people that punch the clock, that work for corporations and chains that offer nothing but a paycheck. And many of these people are miserable.
On the other side of the spectrum are the handful that wake up everyday calm and happy, knowing that today, they're going to use their hands, and their minds, to create something beautiful. And meaningful. And lasting.
This is something so many more of us can have, if only given the chance.
With your involvement and support, we can make this possible!
And there's more...
This project is the start of something bigger.
This is a jumping off point for our ultimate plan of starting the only free school of stone sculture in America.
But to begin...
All we need, is to raise $4,000 dollars. This will fund all of the necessary tools and materials, safety equipment, building use, etc., to teach the first 21.
I have made a collection of 40 carved stone pieces priced at $100 each to fund this. You'll see we have many other perks for different donation levels.
If we raise above our goal, we'll just make this bigger!
With enough funding we can offer scholarships to bring people from outside the area.
With more funding we can begin teaching more artisan trades, like blacksmithing, woodworking, and glassblowing.
With support, this would become a world class artisan training center.
With your help, we could take this across America, traveling from town to town!
You may think, this is all really great, I'm interested in learning, but I have no desire to become a career artist, or professional sculptor. That's fine! These classes are designed to enrich lives even just for the pure enjoyment of a new skill!
So please get involved!
Even if you can't contribute there's lots you can do!
Tell all your friends, talk about our project on social media. Ask us questions! We love talking about our trade!
Thank you for reading, we look forward to hearing from you!