Covering the areas of W. Avon, Collinsville, and Wethersfield, CT. Randall will show the steps involved in repairing broken marble gravestones, as well as the process for making replicas of headstones that are now too deteriorated or damaged to remain as markers in the cemetery.

This will include the repair of the Orson Woodford headstone from Collinsville and the replication of the Rufus Hawley headstone from West Avon, as well as stones from Wethersfield and Hartford. Also, a brief history of the marble quarries of Western CT, where most of this stone came from.

Randall Nelson is the President/Owner of Nelson Architectural Restoration in Connecticut and has been restoring stones for over 35 years.

Randall Nelson earned his BFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 1974, then served a five-year apprenticeship in woodworking with Master Sculptor Toshio Odate from 1975 to 1980. He received an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College for the Arts in 2006 and has been an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of CT, Storrs, and the University of Hartford, Bloomfield. He has also been an Adjunct Faculty at Quinebaug Valley Community College, Middlesex Community College, and Asnuntuck Community College.

Randall has been a working artist for thirty years, teaching art courses while maintaining his own art practice and managing a sculptural restoration business specializing in the preservation of building facades, monuments, and statuary. He has extensive experience in the different fields of sculptural production, including wood and stone carving, mold making, casting, and metalworking.

As a restoration sculptor, his company, Nelson Architectural Restoration, has worked on hundreds of decorative stone and terra cotta projects nationwide, repairing monuments and buildings in New England and other parts of the country, including the brownstone Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park in Hartford and the famous brownstone McClellan Arch and Gate at Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Nelson has also worked on several major monument restoration projects for the City of Savannah, GA. Presently, Mr. Nelson is providing curatorial work for several local historic cemeteries, repairing and replicating damaged monuments and headstones.

Please register so we can set the community room up with appropriate spacing.

Co-sponsored by the Avon Library and Avon Land Trust and the Avon Historical Society.