Gravestone Art & Symbolism

On Tuesday, July 7th @ 7pm please join us for “Gravestone Art & Symbolism,” featuring Lorna and Phil Wooldridge of Wise Owl Workshops. This presentation will cover the progression and interpretation of early symbolism or iconography, from those seen in family burial plots to the more elaborate ones seen in the “rural” and lawn park cemeteries of the Victorian era and, later still, in the Memorial Parks of the 20th Century. Modern examples of memorialization and symbolism will be included, as will the changing techniques and skills required by the early slate and sandstone carvers, contrasting with today’s techniques such as laser etching. It also includes some stories of people that these stones commemorate. The presentation will conclude with an opportunity for questions and a photographic tour of some surrounding cemeteries.

Lorna and Phil Wooldridge run Wise Owl Workshops (http://www.wiseowlworkshops.com/), which was created to teach children about the migration of the Monarch butterfly, but has grown to cover subjects as diverse as gravestone art and native gardening. Lorna has a British teaching degree and specialized in teaching children with dyslexia. Phil worked for over 20 years in software development and is now running a home and garden equipment repair business, Wise Owl Repairs, as well as working as a tutor alongside Lorna.

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