Landmark Lecture: Voices of the Stones

The New York Landmarks Conservancy in partnership with The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York cordially invites you to a Landmark Lecture

Voices of the Stones
With Robert F. Rodriguez, Photojournalist

This will be an in-person and online lecture on Tuesday, April 16th, at 6:00 pm

General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of The City of New York
20 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Manhattan

IN-PERSON RSVP HERE

ONLINE RSVP HERE

Forty years ago, the Cathedral of St John the Divine undertook a major project to build its long overdue towers. Despite that effort, they were never completed – thus the church nickname, St John the Unfinished. What most people do not know is that the partially finished south tower is host to an extraordinary array of stone sculptures – not readily visible from street level or otherwise open to the public.

Robert F. Rodriguez was artist/photographer-in-residence at the church as these artworks were being created, and responsible for recording them for posterity.

In his talk, Voices of the Stones Mr. Rodriguez will present a unique, behind-the-scenes introduction to those sculptures and the people behind them, He will provide a close-up look at the wondrous, intricate and often humorous carvings, and traces them back to the dedicated men and women stone carvers who worked on them, and reveal some “secret” messages they carved into their limestone creations.

Photojournalist Robert F. Rodriguez spent more than 10 years documenting all facets of the construction work involved in building the towers at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He was also a photo editor at Gannett Newspapers for 38 years and The Daily Mail for ten, as well as photographer for Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park and the upcoming Fabulous Fountains of New York.