The Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture was founded in 1974 by J. Seward Johnson, Jr., a noted sculptor and relative of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical family. Johnson's goal was "to provide emerging artists with an opportunity to work together with experienced art technicians to gain the knowledge they need to produce their own work."
Today, Johnson Atelier operates the original equipment as well as two additional Omag CNC stoneworking centers and a computerized Omag lathe. The lathe can fabricate pieces as large as 10 feet long x 4 feet in diameter and has an option for a fixed table that allows it to work as a three-axis milling machine. For smaller columns, the company also operates a smaller version of the CNC three-axis lathe. "We [often] found ourselves doing things that were not monumental in size," Spath said.