GRAPEVINE-2 News for Nelson and Munsonville
August 2013
Old Home Day Issue
Old Home Day Speaker THE GRAVESTONE GIRLS “We lc o m e to th e Grav e y ard - A Stro ll Th ro u g h th e His to ry o f Ce m e te rie s an d Grav e s to n e s ” By Julio Razquin have an old friend who happens to be a successful singer/songwriter. Back in the 80s, he wrote a song called “Silent City” for the soundtrack to a movie. I got to chat with him about his inspiration for the title and the lyrical content of the song, and learned about how he perceived cemeteries to be these “silent cities”. I begged to differ, offering my opinion that these so-called “cities” had a heck of a lot to say. Ask any historian, and she or he will tell you that much of any town’s history lies underground, beneath the dirt and stones of its cemetery. The window into the past that a name can reveal is often made that much clearer when the intricacies of the stonework and the symbolism of the characters and figures on gravestones are studied as well. For more than thirty years, Brenda Sullivan, Maggie White, and Melissa Anderson have been doing just that. Together, as The Gravestone Girls, they
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have not only strived to educate themselves and share their knowledge, but also practice a rich form of folk art tradition which is unique to this nation. In their own words: The Gravestone Girls’ mission is to “Keep Our Dead Alive”. “We create decorative artwork using the beautiful and primitive images carved on old New England gravestones; give lectures on cemetery art, history and symbolism; as well as teach gravestone rubbing classes! Our work aims to entertain and educate on the historical perspective of old cemeteries by documenting and preserving the beautiful
Volume 30, No. 3 art they contain.” They also produce beautiful three-dimensional pieces by way of a casting method uniquely their own. “To produce our three-dimensional pieces, we perfected a casting technique which exactly replicates the original gravestone carving. The creations in our collection derived from 17th to 21st century gravestones found in cemeteries throughout New England. All our pieces are hand-formed and finished in a process we have specifically developed. It is important to note that no stones are ever harmed by our techniques - preservation is our main concern!” Artwork by the Gravestone Girls is used to decorate the home and garden, provide a resource for historical education, and to do fundraising, as well as assist people in the genealogical documentation of people’s ancestral gravestones. They also collect images a n d p h y s i c a l representations related to a town’s history as a method to raise funds for cemetery restoration projects, or fund other historical related enterprises. Brenda Sullivan of The Gravestone Girls will be speaking on Old Home Day, Saturday, August 17 at 1:00 p.m.