On the show today, Lucy Branch speaks to Sarah Monk of The Materially Speaking Podcast about Pietrasanta's International Sculpture Community

Key Discussion Points:

Pietrasanta's Unique Ecosystem and its History

• International hub near Carrara marble fields with specialized artisans: mold makers, foundry workers, patina specialists
• Three types of artists: major names using established studios, regular visitors, and permanent residents
• "You can't do sculpture on your own, you need a body of people"

• 1963 Vatican Crisis, the Vatican ruling on religious artifacts nearly destroyed Pietrasanta overnight

• Studios pivoted by approaching artists like Henry Moore to scale up maquettes
• Created today's model where artists work in both bronze and marble

Sculptural Tourism

• The Giro: three-hour self-guided studio tour making access special rather than constant
• Historical maquette museum includes original David cast

• Religious public sculpture - Timothy Paul Schmalz Works
• Monument Viewing and Scale: how scale makes viewers feel small in an "empowering" way

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