2003 One Ton Symposium

The first One Ton Symposium took place at Custom Marble and Design in 2003. Bruce Bennett opened his studio to introduce artists of all media to marble.

The One Ton Show is an ongoing event that fosters community involvement and interaction, through the utilization of Tennessee’s own Marble for the creation and display of public art.

– Tennessee One Ton Show Mission Statement

Ten artists were selected to sculpt Tennessee pink marble into steles. The concepts were as varied as the artists, but their conversation with the stone was shared.

Most of the artists selected for the show work in other mediums. The group includes painters, ceramicists and printmakers. As an avant-garde installation artist, Furtado has worked with wood, bricks, latex, sand, soap and cooking oil. But never marble.
– Doug Mason, Knoxville News Sentinel, 3/2003

Artists were given the stone, assistance in producing their sculptures, and space to work. Over several months, the sculptures came to life.

The symposium became a community of learning and sharing. Artists worked together as they learned the tools and techniques of working with marble.

Many of the artists have incorporated their own mediums into the sculptures. Painter Allen Cox had a frame-like indentation carved into his marble post and filled it with a fresco. Caulder decorated her marble with a mosaic of glass tiles.

– Doug Mason, Knoxville News Sentinel, 8/2003

Beve Lea Michaels has invested a lot of time over the past year, “hanging around this place to learn some techniques.” Michaels’ first chisel was made by a blacksmith in Harare, Zimbabwe, from the valve stems of a Volkswagen Beetle motor. Zimbabwe was where she first learned to carve shale, soapstone and serpentine.

– Margaret Pennycook

One-Ton sculptor Matthew Davis is also new to stone. An industrial designer by training, he loves “to make things with my hands.”
– Margaret Pennycook

The exhibition was displayed at the Vestival at the Historic Candoro Marble building, now the Candoro Arts and Heritage Association, during the Dogwood Arts Festival before moving to UT Gardens. Some of the sculptures also visited Ijams Nature Center for its 2006 “Artfully Ijams: Spring Art Show and Sale Celebrating Nature.”

Matt Davis’s Tree of Life, a carved Tennessee marble stele with organic tree forms, created for the 2003 One-Ton Symposium. — Tree of Life by Matt Davis

Alan Finch’s Ruder Forms Survive, an abstract Tennessee marble sculpture with geometric openings, created for the 2003 One-Ton Symposium. — Tree of Life by Matt Davis

Michaels said that Bruce Bennett deserves recognition for all his contributions to the show’s success.

“He provided all the materials and equipment,” Michaels said. “He’s one of the founding members of South Knox Heritage and deserves gold stars for all he has done in putting together the show.”

– Loura Long Martin