The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center is located at the head of two hundred acres of former marble quarrying and manufacturing facilities. The post-industrial landscape was a key element in the founding of our organization over 20 years ago. Today, inactive quarries and former manufacturing facilities offer a fantastic landscape for the imagination. The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center has expanded programming to include exploration of most sculptural media.



The former company store of the Vermont Marble Company serves as the center for workshops, lectures, communal dinners and special events. A sculpture garden greets the first time visitor prior to their discovery of site-specific installations mingled among post-industrial ruins. Workshop participants work side-by-side with people of all ages and experience. Our Artist in Residence program encourages exchange of technical skills and aesthetic viewpoints with sculptors from around the world. One and two person exhibitions in our Gallery feature artistic excellence in contemporary sculpture.



Since 1987, the Carving Studio & Sculpture Center has been a source of inspiration for three-dimensional artists working with stone and other materials, as well as those who are ready to experiment and learn. For year-round sculpture classes, workshops, residencies, exhibitions or simply enjoying sculptural art, the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center offers more than just Vermont marble. Our organization sparks ideas, offers valuable guidance and instruction, and provides inspiration for future creative work.



The Carving Studio & Sculpture Center offers workshops that are intensive, informative and invaluable experiences. Participants range from beginners to mature professional artists. Programs in the fall and spring semesters enrich the curricula of nearby Castleton State and Green Mountain Colleges, as well as high school students exploring their creative options in life. Highly qualified instructors generously share their experience in stone and many other sculptural media. Sculpture instruction ranges in subject from reductive processes in stone, wood and plaster to additive techniques in clay, bronze, welded steel and more.



Artist in Residence Programs are integral to our learning environment. International Artists in Residence are invited to the Carving Studio & Sculpture Center for one to two months to create sculpture and interact with the arts community. Ongoing programs include partnerships with organizations in Peru, Kenya and China.



One and two person shows are featured at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center Gallery, located at 259 Marble Street, West Rutland, VT, throughout the year. See the output of our art studios for learning and creating, as well as regional and international works selected for exhibition.



At the end of our summer workshop season, eight to twelve invited sculptors create site-specific works in our post-industrial landscape. SculptFest opening receptions are gala affairs featuring live music/performance, a fine art raffle and a singular opportunity to meet the creators of the sculpture. Stone carving and three-dimensional art in a unique setting - SculptFest is a wonderful time to visit.



From the early 19th century, skilled workers were recruited from Canada and Europe to meet market demand for marble to build a new nation. The Green Mountains were at the heart of the thriving stone industry. Vermont marble was shipped around the country and world for buildings, monuments and sculpture. Many employment opportunities existed for quarrying, fabricating and carving stone, as well as in related supportive infrastructure. By 1900, the Vermont Marble Company, headquartered in the Rutland Region, owned and operated most of the quarries in the U.S. Our main building in West Rutland was built in 1855, and functioned as the Company Store. Most of the 3,000 workers would buy their family goods here, which were then recorded in a ledger against their earnings.



In 1987 the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center was founded by B. Amore, a sculptor then based in Boston, at the Vermont Marble Company in Proctor. Initially comprising two three-week summer workshops, the program was inspired by the sculpture studio environment in Carrara, Italy. The environment created by artisans working alongside beginning and professional sculptors inspires all participants.



The organization moved to West Rutland in 1989 at the invitation of the late Stanley Gawet, who owned the property. Students and supporters renovated the former Company Store building, and program expansion soon followed. Our storefront gallery on Marble Street was established in 1999, in cooperation with the Rutland County Community Land Trust. We purchased our main building and metals shop, with 5.5 acres of land, in January 2002. The goal of year-round programming is nearing reality with the acquisition, in 2008, of a third building, the former Vermont Marble Company Coping Shop.