stone carvers in Minnesota

[Bill Smith <besmith@zzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

  City to host top stone carvers

    Art produced during May gathering will be installed here

          BY MATT PEIKEN

            Pioneer Press

Leaders in fields ranging from choral music to nanotechnology have
turned to Minnesota to hold international symposiums. Add to that list
the world's leading stone carvers.

Public Art St. Paul is gathering eight top international artists and six
 from Minnesota to talk stone, think stone and, ultimately, carve stone
through "Minnesota Rocks!" The international symposium will take place
May 21 through June 30 on the expansive lawn of St. Paul College at
Kellogg and John Ireland boulevards.

Though many European and Asian countries host annual gatherings of stone
carvers, few American cities have done so, and this is the first in the
Twin Cities.

Artists from Finland, Mexico, Germany, Zimbabwe, Austria, Japan, Egypt
and China are joining four from the Twin Cities and two from northern
Minnesota after answering a worldwide call for stone carvers. They will
chisel and carve in public view, and organizers will install the
finished pieces at permanent sites to be determined throughout St. Paul.

"This is a really compelling opportunity to see what it takes to make
this kind of art and also to get to know this material, which is so
important to Minnesota," said Christine Podas-Larson, president of
Public Art St. Paul, a nonprofit advocate and architect for art in
public places around the city. "People love stone, love seeing artists
work with stone. And they'll learn about geology and the history of this
craft."

The symposium, years in the planning, hatched from the minds of two
artists -- Philip Rickey and Brad Goldberg -- with longtime ties to
Public Art St. Paul. Given Minnesota's rich mining history and its
impact nationally, Podas-Larson said, a stone-carving symposium seems
natural and overdue.

Minnesota artists chiseling work through the symposium are Craig David,
David Wyrick and Peter Morales of St. Paul, Lourdes Cue of Minneapolis,
Duane Goodwin of Bemidji and Michael Sinesio of Ely.

Minnesota quarries are donating blocks of granite, limestone, dolomite,
stromatolite (fossilized algae) and other rocks. The artists will arrive
with no preconceptions about what they'll carve, giving the public a
view of the creative starting line.

As part of Minnesota Rocks!, artists and teachers have developed a
curriculum for St. Paul elementary students and organizers are working
with the city's district planning and community councils to find homes
for the work.

Matt Peiken can be reached at mpeiken@----------------
<mpeiken@---------------- > or 651-228-5440.

to learn more

For details on Minnesota Rocks!, an international stone-carving
symposium, visit publicartstpaul.org or call 651-290-0921.