The Workshop Experience @ Opus 40
Opus 40 is a must-see location for anyone interested in stone and particularly in dry stone walls. Built at a historic bluestone quarry Opus 40 was the great work, or opus, of Harvey Fite. Fite’s opus is currently undergoing a multi-year restoration to rebuild the sections that are failing. The restoration is being led by Brian Post of Standing Stone LLC, the former executive director of the Stone Trust.
Come to learn all the rules and techniques taught at any Stone Trust workshop. Be inspired by the extent of what dry stone walling can create. In this setting, you will see how the craft of dry stone walling supports the art. Some of the original Opus 40 walls include flaws in the construction, leading them to become unstable. At least one instructor at your workshop will have worked on the restoration and will be able to relate how repairs have been tackled and the many challenges involved. Some workshops may even get to see a phase of the restoration in action.
A Stone Trust workshop at Opus 40 gives you a grounding in dry stone construction in a dream location.
Upcoming Workshops @ Opus 40
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Key reasons for taking a workshop at this site:
- Visit Opus 40 and tour the sculpture park guided by an instructor who has experience working on the restoration
- Work with the native bluestone (a type of hard sandstone)
- Closest training site to New York City
The Training Site @ Opus 40
Workshop walls at Opus 40 are built with the native bluestone from this historic quarry. The stone is level-bedded but typically not perfectly flat. It can also be quite angular. This bluestone can be shaped relatively well, but can also be unpredictable. If you are working with level-bedded sandstone or limestone this would be an ideal site to train on.
Take a video tour with Brian Post through the training site.
Participants working on a training wall.
Scenes from an Opus 40 Workshop
About Opus 40
Created by pioneering artist and professor Harvey Fite and founded as a nonprofit by his wife in 1978, Opus 40 is a world-famous sculpture park and museum with 55 acres of meadows, forested paths and bluestone quarries — centering on 6.5 acres of remarkable earthwork sculpture — in the heart of the Hudson Valley in Saugerties, NY.
Dining
(all 5-6 miles away)
Namaste Indian Resaurant
Zicatela’s Restaurant and Bar (Mexican)
Abby’s Restaurant and Bar
Bun’s Burgers
Mirabellas (Italian)
The Dutch (Tavern and Bar)
Tomo (Japanese)
Location
356 George Sickle Road, Saugerties, NY 12477