Bill Cook of Knoxville, Tenn., describes his sculpture to May Jo Price. Cook is one of many sculptors in Sylacauga for the Magic of Marble Festival.
The festival runs through Saturday. Some of the upcoming events include tours of local quarries, a 5K run and examples of sculpting.
Ted Spears, president of the Arts Council, previously described the purpose for putting on the event.
“Number one is to attract tourists to Sylacauga, to come to the Marble Festival,” he said. “Those people who are interested in marble and those people who just come to see what we are doing. Number two is to make the people in Sylacauga aware of the importance of the marble companies that we have here.”
Master sculptor Giovanni Balderi of Pietrasanta, Italy will be working alongside other sculptors and teaching techniques at Central Park this week. Balderi is the featured guest for the festival and was honored at a reception Saturday by community leaders.
Author Ruth Cook will give a lecture on the history of Sylacauga marble at noon Wednesday in the Comer Library. Cook, who wrote “A Brief History of Sylacauga Marble,” will focus on Italian sculptor and quarry owner Giuseppe Moretti.
Marble exhibits by artists including Moretti and Sylacauga native Bill Whetstone will be on display at the Comer Museum and Arts Center beginning Wednesday. Artists will also be painting at different locations in the city and student art from the middle school and high school will be displayed.
The library will continue featuring displays from the local marble industries. The displays showcase the many uses of marble mined in the area.
Also beginning Wednesday, daily tours will be taken through the Alabama Marble and Imerys quarries.
The festival will be capped by the first Marble City 5K Run and a one-mile fun run on Saturday. Also a “mini art fair” at the museum will feature live music from The Underhill Family Orchestra.
The Magic of Marble Festival is sponsored by the Sylacauga Arts Council and supported by the Alabama State Council on Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
I attended several of the events throughout the past week (when I could find them). I believe the biggest concern I would have, if I were a resident of Sylacauga, is shown in the picture of Mr. Cook carving - where are the people in the background of the picture? Everything I saw was very lightly attended.
Mr. Cook, I can assure you that the majority of people in Sylacauga would like industry, not just marble but any industry, to come to Sylacauga. It is a middle-class city, at best, and, from what I have seen, there is no concerted effort to make it anything other than that. A marble festival is a good idea but it is only a start; the leaders in the community must focus on something besides the arts' crowd; something that will put their citizens to work.
I agree with Mr. Cook regarding the beauty of sculptures carved from marble. In visiting Italy, I have seen many. I would suggest, however, that the beauty of those carvings has not made it to Sylacauga. The "sculpture" in front of the museum looks like a woman attempting to touch her toes and the piece in front of the city administration building may be the top of the turnip that BG refers to.
BG - keep up the keen observations and rapier wit; Mr. Cook, keep up your carving but encourage the leaders you represent to think of Sylacauga's "big picture". The idea of the marble festival, while it will contribute, simply will not help Sylacauga grow into what it needs to be.
Sincerely,
Bosley Alderman