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Date: 10/17/2018
AGAWAM – As Halloween draws closer, the topic of cemeteries may frighten people as they think of zombies and hauntings. To lay those fears to rest, Brenda Sullivan of the Gravestone Girls stopped by the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans meeting Oct. 10 at the Agawam Public Library, to show the art behind the stones.
Brenda Sullivan is from Central Massachusetts. After growing up with frequent visits to the family cemetery alongside her mother and grandmother, Sullivan became fascinated and appreciated the art of gravestones.
For fifteen years, Brenda has been the proprietrix of the Gravestone Girls. She is also a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies, an organization that encourages the artistic and historical study of gravestones. Working with Maggie White and Melissa Anderson on her side, Gravestone Girls travels in New England teaching classes, conducting demonstrations and featuring their work at art shows and festivals.
Sullivan provided a brief background history of gravestones and presented a step-by-step crash course on the art of gravestone rubbing. Massachusetts has a wealth of historic cemeteries, making gravestone rubbing a fun activity for those who properly execute the craft. This has driven Sullivan to educate others on gravestone history and rubbing in the New England area. As Sullivan explained, “I started this as a hobby. One thing led to another, and now 20 years later, I do this full time and I really work to teach everybody about these wonderful spaces that are in our backyards and on our main streets pretty much everywhere you go in the New England area.”
While the first thought of many may be that gravestone rubbing is illegal, Sullivan explained to the group that this is a common misconception, stating, “In Massachusetts, there is no sweeping law that prohibits or makes gravestone rubbing illegal. It is up to whoever oversees the cemeteries in hometowns.” With proper permission from the cemetery, gravestone rubbing can be conducted on many burial grounds in the area.
The history behind the stones makes them an interesting item to memorialize. Depending on the century in which they were made, each gravestone included identifiers such as initials, dates, symbols or even epitaphs. Sullivan explained that each marking on the stone was relevant to the century in which the stone was made. “Symbols are the earliest things that are used for art on these old gravestones. They’re considered a soul symbol. This is a mortality and morality lesson in the 17th and 18th century. They lived very difficult lives, they were very religious, they were superstitious, and they were really following the Bible to the letter.”
Members of the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans were eager to try their hand at gravestone rubbing. Sullivan welcomed volunteers to the front of the room, where she had two gravestones set up for demonstration.
Sullivan stressed the importance of treating gravestones as the fragile artifacts that they are, sharing, “One of the reasons that so many places prohibit gravestone rubbing or people have the misconception that it is illegal is that people have gone out in the past and done stuff to these stones and it has caused damage. I’ve heard every horror story about what people think we can do to these things.”
The stones that are found in Western Massachusetts are especially fragile. Sullivan explained to the club that Agawam has many gravestones made of sandstone. These are the stones that have a brown or red tint. The makeup of the stone is much grainer, making it a more difficult piece to conduct gravestone rubbings. Making tapping motions on several pieces of the sample gravestone, Sullivan showed the group how to tell if a stone is sturdy enough to complete a gravestone rubbing.
As Sullivan shared, “We tend to think that because these are made out of stone that they are indestructible. But stone is a living, breathing object just like anything else. It has molecules that expand and contract in the heat and the cold. They do change over time.”
Thinking of conducting a gravestone rubbing yourself? It is highly recommended to learn the proper techniques and rules that come with making a successful and memorable work of art from a gravestone. As Sullivan stated, “To do a properly executed gravestone rubbing is to make a document of that stone at a particular point in time. Sometimes, at the very least, that gravestone rubbing is a snapshot of what the stone looked like at a particular point in time.”
The meeting left members with a newfound knowledge of the historical stones that are driven by every day and the ability to create a new form of art. It’s not every day that an artist club learns gravestone rubbing, but it’s certain that new works of art will come from the demonstration Sullivan provided.
Gravestone Girls will be at the Old Deerfield Holiday Sampler at the Eastern States Exposition Nov. 17 from 9-6 p.m. For more information on hosting a demonstration by Sullivan, please visit gravestonegirls.com. For more information on upcoming meetings of the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans, please visit their Facebook page.