Ten sculptors at Snow Marine Park continue to race the clock to finish promised carvings before a Rockland Stone Symposium finale. They’ve committed upwards of 12-hour days from July 14 to July 26. Their motivation is the auction of their finished products, with proceeds going to the artists and to Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership.

Approval through the Rockland Harbor Commission for use of the park, as well as locally donated materials, are allowing the sculptors to proceed, though PenBayPilot.com received an email from a Mechanic Street resident who represents neighbors complaining about the noise, dust, and long hours. The writer claimed no malice against the sculptors, a couple of whom are Rockland residents.

“We are not angry with the sculptors, many of whom have national and international renown,” the email read. “We are dismayed by the Rockland City Council, which gave their permission for this days-long, until July 26, activity. Apparently because Mechanic Street is mixed commercial and residential use the City Council did not take into consideration the impact on residents of the extreme noise pollution.”

Without this reporter mentioning the complaint, Sam Finkelstein offered encouragement.

“The first couple days are the loudest, longest days because everyone is trying to get started,” he said. “They are also using heavier tools to rough out the forms. But then, once they’ve roughed out what they are doing, things start to quiet down.”

Finkelstein oversees the symposium that is put on by the Maine Stone Workers Guild approximately every other year in various municipalities or with private organizations. The last one was in Boothbay in 2023. Finkelstein guesses that this is the 10th symposium in the history of the Maine Stone Workers Guild, which has 30-40 members and includes quarry owners, masons, steam cutters, and sculptors.

Among this year’s symposium group are the 10 who’ve committed to carving entirely onsite at Snow Marine Park, plus a few more who transport their sculptures with them, to work on a few times over the course of the carving period.

There’s a young carver from Germany, a third-generation French stone mason, a resident of South Carolina; everyone else is from Maine.

Finkelstein started attending Harbor Commission meetings in September because the group had decided that the better options for this symposium were along the working waterfront.

“There’s a nice breeze,” he said. “People come by.”

The group started installing the stone July 13. Most of the stone has been donated from Rockport Granite. Mostly it’s different types of granite, but there’s a few pieces of limestone from Vermont and stone from Hurricane Island that had been quarried a couple of years ago.

The electricity comes from a tow-behind generator. The group also brought an air compressor. Both of those are being fueled by diesel that’s being provided as a donation by Maritime Energy and Jake Barbour.

And, the people do stop by. Spectators watch, snap pictures, chat. What Finkelstein loves about public art projects is there’s no barrier, such as paying admission to a museum.

“It’s been cool,” he said. “During the week a lot of people are at work, but people are still coming along with their boats and stopping by, which is nice.”

For the most part, all spectators can read cues. However, there have been a couple of times when the sculptor was about to make a big cut and someone slipped under the rope and walked up to talk. No one has gotten hurt, said Finkelstein.

The Maine Stone Workers Guild has a soft stone tent that they’ve taken to the Sunday Stroll the last couple of times. Under the tent, children can carve little pieces of alabaster or use hand tools to make little sculptures. Because of the stretch of resources this month, if an activity tent is produced, it may be at Snow Marine Park.

Also at Snow Marine Park will be a closing reception, Saturday, July 26, which the group has dubbed “the Stone Symposium Soiree,” under the event tent behind Sail, Power, and Steam Museum.

Information regarding the sculptures to be auctioned off will be on an online auction page by the end of the week, allowing people to put in bids: www.mainestoneworkersguild.org. Also on the website is a list of workshops run by the nonprofit Stone Workers Guild education fund.

The guild held its first workshop of the symposium on the morning of July 17. Attendees were taught how to make a bird bath.

“People pick out a rock – people who’ve never touched a carving stone before,” said Finkelstein. “I walk them through all the tools and techniques. It’s fun.”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com