The abandoned marble quarries of Tennessee and Vermont, now industrial landscapes reclaimed by nature, have been historically linked since the 1890’s. This body of work reveals the story that links these quarries together both yesterday and today. Our focus is on the quarry workers and their families which consisted of European immigrants and African Americans – whose humble roots gave rise to a booming industry that built the grandeur of our country’s architectural legacy. It’s a testament of human ingenuity, human-power and sacrifice.
In August 2016, Kate Katomski collaborated with master printer Beauvais Lyons to create a series of prints for Quarry Project – Tennessee. A variety of methods were used, but most include a lithographic run from pink Tennessee marble, positive photo-lithography & monoprint. It’s a variable edition with each impression being unique. The Key-stone image is from the “key-hole” at Ross Quarry at the Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. Marble for the project was donated by Tennessee Marble Company in Friendsville, Tennessee. This collaboration is part of Kate Katomski’s Quarry Project, featured in November 2016 with a video and audio projection on the Knoxville Museum of Art, and exhibitions at the Museum of East Tennessee History and the Knoxville Museum of Art related to the history of the marble industry in East Tennessee.
Quarry Project – Tennessee also incorporates a multi-media presentation composed of layers of historic and artistic imagery set to a soundtrack of live interviews and original music directed, filmed and produced by Kate Katomski and Judd Mulkerin. The film was shot at Thompson’s Point, a historic industrial site in Portland, ME. Music was composed and played by Judd Mulkerin. Historical images are courtesy of the McClung Collection in Knoxville, TN and the Vermont Marble Museum, Proctor, VT.
This projection will be featured as a public event on the exterior façade at Knoxville Museum of Art which is clad with pink marble, in the exhibition at Museum of East Tennessee, Knoxville, TN and at Candoro Marble Company showroom, Knoxville, TN.
The exhibition is sponsored by:
