MOCA will hold one 4-day beginners’ gravestone repair workshop July 21-24 in Gray, Maine. These are highly anticipated workshops which fill up fast!
Would you like to learn everything you need to properly care for old gravestones: from basic straightening of leaning stones to multi-step repairs? Consider registering to attend this beginner workshop.
Joe Ferrannini of Grave Stone Matters of Hoosick Falls, NY will lead the workshop to be held Friday through Monday, July 21 through July 24. This intensive beginner four-day workshop is hands-on but you can also attend as an observer.
We start with registration and a very informative classroom session on Friday morning. Then after lunch we will go to the cemetery for a walk-around assessment and to cover techniques for cleaning stones and straightening leaning stones. On Saturday, Joe will cover how to cast a new base; how to mix and work with stone-specific epoxies and soft mortars; clamping, setting, and lifting techniques; and much more. Every workshop is different as you never know what you will run into as you start working on a stone.
Participation is limited to those who have not participated in a previous MOCA four-day workshop.
This is a unique opportunity to learn about gravestone preservation and acquire essential conservation skills as well as practice through hands-on experience.
Learn how to:
- Properly and safely clean and repair gravestones
- Straighten leaning stones
- Reset fallen stones
- Build and rebuild bases
- Repair broken stones using specialized epoxy
- Infill
- Use a tripod for resetting monuments
- Ensure what is happening in your local cemetery is safe for the stones
Ideally participants will attend all four days, but we understand that’s not always possible. Note that we cannot forecast what activities will happen on which day, as the instruction and practice are based on what onsite damage we find as we work in the cemetery.
There is no registration fee for this workshop. However, our MOCA Workshop Committee urges workshop participants to donate as generously as they are able to help cover workshop expenses of about $1,000 per day. Any funds collected in excess of program expenses will be re-invested into the MOCA workshop fund.
Our goal is to promote the use of correct materials and practices when working in cemeteries and to encourage workshop participants to share the skills they learn.
Donations will be accepted each day of the workshop. Checks should be made out to MOCA.
