In the spring of 2013, I joined folklorist Joseph O’Connell as he conducted a research project on the tradition and practice of limestone carving in South-Central Indiana. This work ultimately became “Limestone Traditions: Stoneworking in South-Central Indiana,” a traveling exhibit presented by Traditional Arts Indiana.
The exhibit explores present-day Indiana limestone work in towns along the Salem Oolitic Limestone Belt, which produced stone for such iconic works of American architecture as the Empire State Building, the National Cathedral, Yankee Stadium, and the Biltmore Estate, among others.
O’Connell interviewed people involved in the limestone industry, and the exhibit features excerpts from those conversations with accompanying documentary photography, and presents a range of individuals involved in limestone work, including carvers, toolmakers and other tradespeople.
Limestone Traditions opened on June 1, 2013 at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures on the campus of Indiana University before traveling to various public institutions throughout the state.