Morgan dummit

Sculptor Morgan Dummitt was born in New York. As a teenager he modeled the figure in clay at the Art Students League and visited the Metropolitan Museum to study classical sculptures in marble every week. He knew that he wanted to pursue a career in sculpture, and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Florence Academy of Art, the premier institutions for traditional sculpture in America and Italy. While these schools provided excellent education in clay modeling, drawing, and bronze casting, they had no serious programs for developing sculpture in stone. 

Morgan’s interest in stone carving led him to attempt to teach himself following his formal training, but he became frustrated after a few years. While the tools of the trade were readily available, he realized that he was attempting to reinvent the wheel, starting from scratch without the benefit of a vast body of technical knowledge developed over centuries. The process of carving stone was widely taught and practiced in America through the early 20th century, but in the 21st there is almost no trace of it except for a handful of artisans keeping the tradition alive by a thread. Today if a young artist wants to carve stone in the manor of the great masters, their experience is much like an illiterate person who sees a book, wishes to learn to read, and then has to guess at what sound each letter makes without any frame of reference. 

Morgan was therefore extremely fortunate to meet Chris Pelletieri, founder of the Pelletieri Stone Carver’s Academy and one of the few master carvers still practicing the art of carving by hand. Because Chris studied with European masters himself, he has a mature grasp of the language of the stone carver. Any carver has to develop their own particular approach and style, but the rudiments—proper tool use and maintenance, an understanding of the role of clay and plaster models, the efficient execution of a project from start to finish—are techniques which an eager student can readily absorb. Studying with Chris opened the door to a world of artistic possibilities which Morgan had been searching for for years. The Pelletieri Stone Carver’s Academy introduced Morgan to the tools he’d been looking for since he was a teenager awed by the works of stone sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum. Without instruction, his interest in carving would very likely have withered on the vine owing to lack of expertise and encouragement. 

When Chris asked Morgan to join the Board of Directors of the Pelletieri Stone Carver’s Academy in 2019 Morgan was honored to do so, recognizing the transformational impact of the Carving Academy in his own life and work. It is Morgan Dummitt’s firm belief that if young artists were introduced to stone carving as a viable medium for artistic expression, many would incorporate it in their practices. Yet because sound instruction is so difficult to access, hand carved sculpture has become a vanishing niche in the world of contemporary sculpture. As a professional sculptor and carver, Morgan is committed to the Academy’s mission of keeping the ancient art of working stone alive, and contributing to its continued relevance in the lives of artists who have not yet had the opportunity to pick up a chisel and see where it will lead them.