The StonExpo Federation member associations that deal with building stone are major sponsors of "Masters of the Building Arts," part of the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival to be held June 27 to July 8, 2001 (except July 2 and 3) on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The associations are Marble Institute of America, Allied Stone Industries, Indiana Limestone Institute, National Building Granite Quarries Association, and Building Stone Institute.

Masters of the Building Arts will feature ongoing demonstrations by craftspeople working in stone, wood, stained glass, plaster, adobe, paint, terra-cotta and metal. In the stone section, the trowel trades will conduct demonstrations, along with lettering artists, stonemasons and carvers. The lettering will be done by craftspeople from the John Stevens Shop of Newport, RI. Masons and carvers from the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, will be doing stone carving and sculpting demonstrations, and they will be constructing a gothic arch - representative of those in the cathedral - on the festival grounds.

In return for the financial contributions by the StonExpo Federation and the Marble Institute of America, the associations will receive public recognition in printed materials and links from the Smithsonian web site (www.si.edu), as well as festival signage and craft demonstrations. The Smithsonian projects attendance at the festival will be about 1 million people over the 10-day event.