Workshop student Linda Hancock, of Madison, Wisconsin, carves letters into a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium while Steve Shirley (left), of San Diego, and Alicia Marquez, right, originally from Venezuela and now of Chicago, work on their own projects. Photos by Rodney Margison

by CARMEN SIERING
photography by RODNEY MARGISON

The Indiana Limestone Symposium is “summer camp for grownups,” says Bloomington resident Bill Holladay. He should know—he’s been coming every year since he first showed up in 2003.

“I had taken a six-Saturday hand-carving class through the Bloomington Area Arts Council with Amy [Brier] in the 1990s,” Holladay says. “She and Frank Young had started the Symposium and she kept telling me I should come. And once I did, I was hooked.”

Brier and Young started the Indiana Limestone Symposium in 1996. The three-week outdoor event, held each year in June on the grounds of Bybee Stone Company in Ellettsville, has a festival atmosphere and a simple setup—just a few awnings, blocks of limestone, heavy equipment to move things around, and the tools needed for the artists to bring the stone to life. Creature comforts are few. There’s a tent with a refrigerator and other necessities, a covered picnic area, and, of course, port-a-potties.

Master carvers are on hand to help those who want guidance or inspiration, says board member Charlie Savage. “Carvers can come out for a week or a day, they can carve all alone or they can get as much help as they need,” Savage says. He adds that having people like Brier, director and resident master carver Sharon Fullingim, and visiting master carver John Fisher from California on hand adds something extra to the experience.

This year, Holladay is carving a sandhill crane on one side of a limestone block that is 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. Uncarved, Holladay says, the block weighed a little more than 1,200 pounds. “I may have gotten it down to 800 pounds by now,” he reflects.

This isn’t the first time Holladay has worked on this particular carving. He carved an identical crane on the other side of the block at the 2005 and 2006 symposia. Then he took it home. “One of the instructors took it to my house and set it down beside my garage where I told him to,” he says. “Unfortunately, I didn’t know enough back them to realize it wasn’t really in a good spot to continue working on it. So there it sat until last summer’s symposium.”

That’s when he persuaded his friend Steven Tourney, who operates a forklift for the symposium, and a group of carvers to come to his house and load the sculpture into his truck and bring it back to the site. There it sat over the winter. He’s finishing it during the symposium and then, he says, the only question will be how to situate the (finally) finished piece on his property when he brings it back home.

“I originally thought I would refine the first side, once I’m done with Side B, but now I kind of like the idea of having the two sides as representations of my skill level—then versus now,” Holladay says. “Sort of a before and after piece.

The 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium concludes June 22. For more information, visit limestonesymposium.org.



The Indiana Limestone Symposium is held on the grounds of Bybee Stone Company in Ellettsville.
Student workshop participants at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium held near Ellettsville.
Workshop student Linda Hancock, of Madison, Wisconsin, carves letters into a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium while Steve Shirley (left), of San Diego, and Alicia Marquez, right, originally from Venezuela and now of Chicago, work on their own projects. Photos by Rodney Margison
Linda Hancock, of Madison, Wisconsin, carves letters into a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Lisa Kivland, of Schaumburg, Illinois, carves letters into a block of Limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium. Photos by Rodney Margison
Sidney Bolam, of Brown County, carves an American bald eagle out of limestone. Bolam is the site manager and is on the Indiana Limestone Symposium board of directors.
Master carver John Fisher, who splits his time between California and Italy, blows limestone dust from a sculpture he is creating at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Eileen Bishop, of Cincinnati, Ohio, uses an air tool to carve a woman’s figure into a block of limestone during the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium. The large sculpture will mirror the smaller one, except for its size. This is Bishop’s fourth year participating in the symposium. She started carving by hand before moving into pneumatics. “This is a very unique place,” Bishop says. “There’s nowhere like this symposium for a 250 mile radius.”
Eileen Bishop, of Cincinnati, Ohio, uses an air tool to carve a woman’s figure into a block of limestone during the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Steve Tourney, of Bloomington, carves lines to simulate text in a book sculpture he is creating from a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Steve Tourney, of Bloomington, carves lines to simulate text in a book sculpture he is creating from a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Steve Tourney, of Bloomington, carves lines to simulate text in a book sculpture he is creating from a block of limestone at the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium.
Cathy Haggerty, of Bloomington, saw a photo of a lazy cat on Facebook and used it as inspiration for this sculpture she created. “There’s something so primal about pounding on rock,” she says, adding that the Indiana Limestone Symposium is the only time during the year that she carves limestone.
Bloomington resident Bill Holladay carves this side of his sandhill crane sculpture during the 2005 and 2006 Indiana Limestone Symposium events. Years later, he arranged to have the sculpture returned to the festival where he is duplicating the bird on the opposite side.
Bloomington resident Bill Holladay with the sandhill crane sculpture he carved during the 2019 Indiana Limestone Symposium. Holliday created this side after having carved the same bird on the opposite side during the 2005 and 2006 Indiana Limestone Symposium events.
Indiana Limestone Symposium co-founder Amy Brier carves a triptych sculpture during the 2019 symposium. On one side of the sculpture is a female face; a pair of owls adorn another side; and the third side is a cat.
Indiana Limestone Symposium co-founder Amy Brier has been carving this triptych sculpture during the 2019 symposium. In addition to the female face and the cat, the opposite side features a pair of owls.