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Past Symposiums

Past Symposia

In The Beginning

1987 - The Beyer Family FarmThe Time: August 14-16, 1987. The Northwest Stone Sculptors Association is now almost 4 years old, having been founded in 1984 by Meg Pettibone


1987 Llamas, Our carving companionsThe Place: A small ranch in a valley outside of Pateros, WA, north of Chelan. Owned by Rich and Margaret Beyer, there is a small cabin, a large field of very dead grass, a small burbling creek, a large table set up outside for meals and presentations, and one pit toilet.


The Event: The 1st NWSSA International Symposium
Little did we know that in this humble birthplace one of the most important contributions to the art of carving stone on the West Coast of the United States was about to take place. The Spirit of Support and the Passion of Carving Stone would continue to grow and evolve for decades.


1987 Hand CarvingThe 1st Symposium was created by Meg Pettibone, Patricia Belyea, Claire McArdle, and Margaret Beyer. Approximately 30 people attended. The cost was $100 for 3 days. Instruction and guidance was provided by George Pratt, Rich Beyer, Lee Gass, Marie Carp, Everett DuPen and John Hoge. George also provided a large marble boulder for a group hand carving project. A generator was brought in to provide electricity and compressed air for Rich to demonstrate using air hammers on a large granite boulder on site. Lee Gass introduced his method of using diamond grinder bits to carve hard stone. George Pratt also introduced us to a relatively new tool, the angle grinder. An area was set to work on the group project or our own hand-carving in the cool, quiet next to the creek. 

1989 Bill Dilley and George Pratt working on a large marble group projectIncluded was lunch and dinner (cooked by Rich Beyer’s daughter), evening discussions, a few stones available for purchase, and your own space to tent camp (a few people chose to stay at a nearby B&B). Everything was held outdoors. Bathing demanded a short, dusty truck ride down to the Methow River.
1989 Rich Beyer torch carving granite

The 2nd Symposium was held Aug 17-20, 1989 at the same location. Karen Murphy and Carol Way were the directors. Instructors were George Pratt, Marie Carp, Everett DuPen, Rich Baker, and Rich Beyer. Again, there were professional presentations, stimulating conversations, and a great sense of camaraderie. A unique opportunity was provided by Rich Beyer at his studio in nearby Pateros: we all got a hands-on lesson on carving granite use an oxy-acetylene torch with a water feed attached. It sounded like a jet engine and carved stone by blasting/melting it. Great fun!
1989 Dinner  1989 The First Stone Sale

Camp B 2016, July 9-16

29th Annual International Stone Carving SymposiumCampB2016
Camp Brotherhood
July 9th-17th, 2016

We invite you to join us at the Treacy Levine Center at Camp Brotherhood for up to eight days of playing with stone, communing with nature, and enjoying the camaraderie of fellow stone enthusiasts. Bring yourself, your creative energy, your humor, tools, and a favorite piece of stone. If you don’t have stone or tools, we have an entire tent set up for beginners with tools and instructors. 

The Camp provides furnished lodge rooms and three full meals a day for the ultimate freedom to delve into carving and making friends. Tools and stone are also available for sale by our vendors. Sharing information, tips, and inspiration is something we all do. Evenings are filled with slideshows, informational talks, a hoot of a fundraising auction, a music filled final night party, campfires and more. You are also invited to bring a piece for the public sculpture show on the last Saturday.

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Camp B 2015, July 11-19

28th Annual International Stone Carving Symposium   

Centerfold

We invite you to join us at the Treacy Levine Center at Camp Brotherhood for up to eight days of playing with stone, communing with nature, and enjoying the camaraderie of fellow stone enthusiasts. Bring yourself, your creative energy, your humor, tools, and a favorite piece of stone. If you don’t have stone or tools, we have an entire tent set up for beginners with tools and instructors. 

The Camp upkeeps lodge rooms and provides three full meals a day for the ultimate freedom to delve into carving and making friends. Tools and stone are also available for sale by our vendors. Sharing information, tips, and inspiration is something we all do. Evenings are filled with slideshows, informational talks, a hoot of a fundraising auction, a music filled final night party, campfires and more. You are also invited to bring a piece for the public sculpture show on the last Saturday.

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CampB 2014, July 12-20

27th Annual International Stone Carving Symposium

"The artist must create a spark before they can make a fire, and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of their own creation." - Auguste Rodin   BrochureImage

Join the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association at the Cascadian Center at Camp Brotherhood in Mount Vernon, Washington for eight days of playing with stone, communing with nature and fun with old friends and new. All meals are provided and no household chores – now that is freedom! Each year this pastoral venue is transformed into a field of tents with smiling people covered in stone dust. And if the day turns unbearably hot, the swimming pool is right there waiting. 

Bring yourself, your creative energy, your humor, your tools and a favorite piece of stone. We have stone and tools for the begiinners and if you want, you can buy them from our helpful vendors. Instructors are available for everyone from beginner to expert, and sharing ideas and advice is something we always do. 

There are slide shows, informational talks, and wonderful campfires in the evenings.  Our Auction to raise funds for education is a night of hilarious fun, second only to our last night party. Another highlight is our Sculpture Walk on Saturday, July 19th, open to the public.

CLICK TO REGISTER

Camp B 2012, July 13 - 21

Welcome!  CampB11
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines,
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore, Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

 If you’ve never been to NWSSA’s symposium at the Cascadian Center at Camp Brotherhood, it’s about a transformation of a meadow into a group-wise pursuit of shared experience in one medium - STONE. The days start with a hearty breakfast. At 9am the power is turned on the field and those who wish to get right to carving do, and others attend classes. The choice is yours. At noon we break for a catered lunch in the pavilion on the field for an hour, then back to work. We end the work day with dinner at Warren Hall. After dinner there are various evening events, usually followed by conversations around the fire pits or on the deck of the lodge. Oh Yeah, there is ample opportunity for quiet walks in the many acres of woods at the camp, or early morning treks along the creek to find that special stone. 
To download a PDF of the brochure- click here

 

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CampB Symposium 2013, July 13-21


Camp Brotherhood 2012"The best artist has that thought alone which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone." - Michelangelo 

We invite you to join us at the Cascadian Center at Camp Brotherhood for eight days of playing with stone, communing with nature and fun with old friends and new. All meals are provided and no household chores – now that is freedom! Each year this pastoral venue (complete with emus, alpacas and a donkey) is transformed into a field of tents with smiling people covered in stone dust. And if the day turns unbearably hot, the swimming pool is right there waiting. 

Instructors are available for everyone from beginner to expert, and sharing ideas and advice is something we always do. 

There are slide shows, informational talks, and wonderful campfires in the evenings.  Our Auction to raise funds for education is a night of hilarious fun, second only to our last night party. Another highlight is our Sculpture Walk on Saturday, July 20th, open to the public.

To find out about Camp B and to register click on "Read More" ....

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CampB Symposium 2011, July 9th to 17th


Mount Vernon International Symposium 2011 is pleased to announce Guest Artist: 
Matt Auvinen(This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

CampB-BrochureImage-4CampB-BrochureImage-8

Matt Auvinen has been carving for over 30 years. He received his BA from California State
University, Chico and his MFA from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
In 1988 Matt moved to Pietrasanta where he worked as an artisan for several sculpture
laboratories. For 12 of his 20 years in Italy, Matt taught sculpture and drawing for a private,
university level, art program in Florence. His sculptural foundation is from working with
mixed media. Matt has worked with cast bronze, welded steel, plaster and wood. Found object
assemblage became a focus of his work in the late 80s and this sensibility has been projected
on to his work in stone. In 2001 Matt curated an exhibition on stone carving techniques in
Settignano, the town famous for its stonecarvers just above Florence. In 2002 he translated
Francesco Carradori’s Elementary Instructions for Students of Sculpture into english (Getty
Publications).

Matt Auvinen has been carving for over 30 years. He received his BA from California StateUniversity, Chico and his MFA from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.In 1988 Matt moved to Pietrasanta where he worked as an artisan for several sculpturelaboratories. For 12 of his 20 years in Italy, Matt taught sculpture and drawing for a private,university level, art program in Florence. His sculptural foundation is from working withmixed media. Matt has worked with cast bronze, welded steel, plaster and wood. Found objectassemblage became a focus of his work in the late 80s and this sensibility has been projectedon to his work in stone. - Matt will be offering  comprehensive workshops on mold-making, reproductions, pointing, and direct carving methods. 
Symposium Schedule (as of June 28th) [click here]
Register on-line - [click here]
To download a PDF of the registration form: click here
To view and download a PDF of our 2011 Camp B brochure- click here
To view and download a flyer for the Art Walk in the Meadow July 16th - click here
(For those who registered, due to the Canadian Postal strike, we are posting
these "post registration"  documents: "Registration Thank You" & "What to Bring")

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Subcategories

Camp Brotherhood
Articles about the Camp Brotherhood Symposia
Article Count:
15
Silver Falls
Articles about our past Symposia at the Silver Falls, OR location
Article Count:
5