Three Cathedral Carvers Headline New Podcast

The Stone Carvers Guild is a group of independent working professional American stone carvers. Some work in one-person shops, others in small dedicated carving companies. Although they compete with one another for jobs, they share the same goals including promoting and preserving the timeless trade of architectural stone carving. Recently the Guild began a monthly podcast featuring interviews with members. The first three members interviewed all are veterans of the stone yard at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. All have continued their carving journeys around the country.

Episode 1 – Joseph Kincannon, September 2023

Joesph Kincannon — Joseph Kincannon carves his interpretation of the nuclear Holocaust around 1989, which includes the destruction of the World Trade Towers. This carving on the Portal of Paradise has become iconic since the Sept. 11 attacks with many Cathedral visitors stopping to see his carving. – Image Robert F. Rodriguez

Joseph went from the Gift Shop to an Apprentice in the stone yard to Lead Carver. He was one of the longest serving stone workers at the Cathedral during the existence of the Stone Yard Institute. In addition to work at Kincannon Studios, he is currently the Chair of Carving at the American College of Building Arts. Listen to the podcast by linking here

Stone Carvers Guild Podcast — Joseph Kincannon Teaching at the American College of Building Arts.

Episode 2 – Nicholas Fairplay, October, 2023

Fairplay's Elijah — The face of Elijah begins to emerge as Nicholas Fairplay chisels out folds in the robe of the prophet on June 2, 1986. Image Robert F. Rodriguez

At 16 Nick apprenticed with a stone company working on Chichester Cathedral. He went on to work at Westminster Abbey and then received a degree from City and Guilds of London Art School in life drawing and clay modeling. He came to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine as Head Carver and was tasked to teach carving to the most promising cutters in the apprentice program. Listen to the podcast by linking here.

In Cleveland, the Hellenic Preservation Society has commissioned Master Stone Carver Nicholas Fairplay to sculpt a large relief to be installed on the Parthenon Wall of the Greek Cultural Garden featuring dozens of Greek cultural figures. Above, Nick explains his drawing of the relief in Sept. 2022. – Image ClevelandPeople.com

Episode 3. – Amy Brier, November, 2023

After she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boston University, Amy went to Pietrasanta in Italy to carve and study at a commercial marble studio. Coming to the Cathedral stoneyard as well as during its exchange program work on the Cathedral in Lyon, France, she learned much and appreciated the place the traditional carver had in the work. After the Cathedral work Amy acquired a MFA in sculpture from Indiana University. Along the way she co-founded and became the Executive Director of the Indiana Limestone Symposium. She continues to teach as Chair of the Fine Arts program at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, IN. Listen to the podcast by linking here.

Amy Brier working on relief for Indiana State Fair Building. – Image courtesy Amy Brier

■

One reply on “Three Cathedral Carvers Headline New Podcast”

Nice profiling. I did a workshop with Joseph Kincannon (I think) at one of Mark Saxe’s ones in Dixon, NM years ago. i had a fairly long interaction with Joseph about how to carve feathers, at which point he knocked of one on my piece. He’s is still the best one though it took him 15 minutes and mine each took several hours.

Comments are closed.