Canadian Stone Carving Features Indiana Limestone
OTTAWA – For the second consecutive year, Indiana Limestone Company (ILCO) served up some of its namesake product for the Canadian Stone Carving Festival.
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Held in Canada’s capital city on July 21-24, the event drew sculptors and stone carvers from Canada, the United States and Europe as they worked in a street setting to encourages public interaction with artists.
As a festival sponsor, Indiana Limestone Company provided premium stone from its historic central Indiana quarries for the carvers to use in their work.
The festival – the eighth annual – occurred in Ottawa to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation. The city is an especially apt venue because of its rich history of stone carving and the many superb examples of the art to be seen on Parliament Hill.
Modeled on European stone-carving festivals, the event offered each carver a cubic-foot block of stone – 7-1/2″ x 7-1/2″ x 15″. Carving involved only hand tools to create a work of art – in most cases, during just 18 or 20 hours during the festival. Visitors met the artists and watched them at work.
The non-competitive event promotes fellowship in the group and fosters public awareness of stone carving. A public auction of the completed works raised more than $9,000 for Ottawa Innercity Ministries.
Festival officials and participants praised the versatility and high quality Indiana Limestone provides. The state’s native limestone is noted for its characteristic ability to accept carved detail. It’s relatively easy to carve, and attractive colors such as buff are favored by many artists.
“Continuing our support of this event is a source of great pride for us, especially as it puts our stone in the hands of outstanding carvers from around the world,” said Duffe Elkins, Indiana Limestone Company COO. “We’ve hoped from the start that demonstrating the qualities of our stone for carving will encourage artists and artisans to use it even more widely.”
For more on the Indiana Limestone Company and its products, visit indianalimestonecompany.com.
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