Tucked away on a quiet American hillside is one of the most stunning and unique art exhibits in the world. This amazing exhibition isn’t in a museum or a gallery – it’s in a cemetery. Hope Cemetery is located in Barre, Vermont, home to one of the world’s largest granite quarries. Early in the 20th century the abundance of quality granite attracted many gifted European stone cutters and sculptors to Barre, where the craft still thrives today.
Hope Cemetery, created by renowned landscape artist Edward Adams, opened in 1895. Its location in Barre provided local stone artisans with a gallery for their work. When it first opened it was 53 acres and has since expanded to 65. The outdoor exhibit contains an amazing 10,000 monuments, many of which are distinctly unique and intricately carved. All are created from Barre Grey granite. One of the cemetery’s most unusual monuments is a pajama-clad couple holding hands in what looks like a bed, their torsos against a single headboard, and their legs in twin tomb beds. The inscription on the monument reads: “Set me as a seal upon thine heart for love is strong as death – Song of Solomon 8:6.” Another loved one is remembered in a raised relief of a soldier smoking; a woman’s face floats in the haze wafting from the cigarette. Other stone sculptures feature items such as a large soccer ball, a race car, lumber trucks, airplanes, a life-sized, stuffed easy chair with Bettini inscribed into it, and a square monument simply inscribe “Hurry.” One riveting monument is cut from a single block of granite and is inscribed “Elia Corti.” It features a life-sized image of a man sitting on a rock ledge in a contemplative pose. The hand-carved sculpture is so detailed and intricate that the figure looks as if it might spring from the rock. The carving was done by the brother of the deceased. Both brothers were stone cutters. In fact, many of the monuments were created by stone cutters for other deceased stone cutters or their families. There are stories that suggest some cutters created their own unique monuments before passing on. “The desire to be remembered is something that differentiates human beings from other animals,” says Dave Reeson, president of Remco Memorials, a close follower of memorial practices in North America. Reeson said more and more people are looking for special ways to keep the memories of their loved ones alive. “It’s one of the last things a family can do for a loved one that has passed on. It allows those who are grieving to say goodbye, while knowing there is a permanent spot where they can return, to visit.” Reeson says monuments such as those at Hope Cemetery allow families to memorialize the personality of the deceased. “It’s not the recording of the date of birth and death that’s important, it’s everything in between. What’s important is what the monument says about the life of that individual.” Hope Cemetery attracts thousands of visitors from around the world. All visitors share in the warm memories that creatively and permanently honor those who have gone before.