Quarries: Muse & Material, & Giant Sculptures in Monson

The gallery exhibition this summer features materials that are familiar to the town of Monson. Quarries have long been a source of inspiration for artists, photographers, and sculptors, and Monson has been drawing in artists since the mid-1800s. This exhibition, curated by Carl Little, showcases 40 artworks from 30 different artists, encompassing a diverse range of media, including paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Many Maine quarries are represented, including those in Monson, Addison, Sullivan, Limerock, Stonington, Tenants Harbor, and Dix and Hurricane islands.

Sculptors include Obadiah Buell, Miles Chapin, Sam Finkelstein, Mark Herrington, Kazumi Hoshino, Isabel Maritato, Jesse Salisbury, and Tim Shay. Featured painters are Alan Bray, Sarah Lightfoot Brundage, Eleanor Conover, Lois Dodd, Joellyn Duesberry (1944-2016), Sarah Faragher, Nancy Glassman, Jill Hoy, Nina Jerome, Emily Muir (1904-2003), Tessa Greene O’Brien, Colin Page, Carol Sloane, John Wissemann (1925-2022) and Nancy Wissemann-Widrig. Mixed media work by Celeste Roberge and Mark Seif, plus some vintage photographs of quarries, including photos by Berenice Abbott (1898-1981) and Frank Sherburne (1859-1910).

This exhibit coincides with “The Monson Sculpture Project”, an outdoor exhibition showcasing five large-scale stone sculptures along the main road in Monson, created by artists from the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium. Jesse Salisbury, director of the SISS, said, “We had the ability to transform that little town into a sculpture park.” SISS worked with the Monson Collaborative to install five new works downtown this summer. The exhibition features pieces by Salisbury, Kazumi Hoshino, Tim Shay, Mark Herrington, and Celeste Roberge. These sculptures will be on display in Monson through June 2026; after that, the artists hope to travel the show to another town in Maine.

Installation of Jesse Salisbury’s 13,000-pound sculpture

James Pullen, studio technician at Monson Arts Gallery, said he hopes the striking pieces inspire people to pull over to inspect them more closely and then explore the town that has a long history of artmaking. It is the mission of this exhibition to make people stop and spend some time in our town, not just drive through. “It would be nice for people to come to Monson as an end point as opposed to just passing through,” he said. “We get a lot of people who stop in town on their way to the North Woods, but it’s nice that, in the past few years, Monson has increasingly become a destination unto itself.”