Stone carving a view on artist’s heritage
Franco Minervini
creates lasting images
With skill, precision and a steady hand as his guide, stone carver Franco Minervini creates a work of art.
AA proud Italian-American, Franco Minervini uses sculpture and then some to highlight his heritage.
"All I’ve ever tried to do is affect people in their heart and let the pride show," said Minervini, 56, of the Morganville section of Marlboro. "If you can do that, you’ve done something."
Minervini is both sculptor, who designs models, and stone carver, who transfers them to stone. Once finished with the clay model, he coats it with rubber to make a mold for plaster models that he can experiment with before copying it permanently.
One of Minervini’s dreams is to organize a competition-symposium based on stone carving in Freehold Borough. He said the exposure would boost the area’s art savvy and enrich education for children who watch.
A gargoyle is one of the works created by stone carver Franco Minervini at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
When Minervini was a child, stone carvers were abundant in his hometown in Molfetta, Italy. He said he used to be fascinated by watching the carvers and his grandfather work.
"The sound of the stone carvers chipping away was like music," said Minervini, to whom his archetype Michelangelo represents the height of art. "In fact, there were times when they would carve with music. Someone would sing and they would all carve to the beat. It was incredible."
At a young age, Minervini considered his first attempt "so terrible" that he abandoned any hope of improvement. But as an adult in the United States, his creativity surfaced while on the job making parts for machines.
Exploring the art form that had swept him away in Italy followed. Minervini jumped at the chance to study under idols in the field such as Bruno Lucchesi in New York and John Carbone in Princeton in the 1980s.
When Minervini saw a television documentary on stone carvers in 1984, he was astonished to see the very same artists who had fascinated him in his youth. One of them, Vincent Palumbo, was working on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Minervini got a job carving ornamental figures such as angels, crosses and gargoyles there. With the blessings of his wife, Diane, he split his weeks for three years in the 1980s between his business in New Jersey and the structure in D.C.
Minervini soon discovered that learning the activity thoroughly requires adapting to each project, design stroke and even stone, which can be softer or harder in different areas. As his teacher and sculptor, Palumbo became Miner-vini’s master carver.
The task of up to a dozen stone carvers was to improve on the plaster model. Minervini said this is one project that he is satisfied with because he succeeded in adding enough depth to make his work discernible from 200 feet away.
Minervini said passion and an intense desire to learn drove him unwittingly to work to the point of exhaustion. Constant intensity and pressure to produce commonly break workers, he added.
Work began on the cathedral in 1907, and the last stone was laid in 1989, putting Minervini out of work. Friends have suggested that he seek labor in New York on St. John the Divine, one of the few opportunities for local employment in the field.
"I am so loyal to the cathedral in Washington that I couldn’t work anyplace else," said Minervini, whom Palumbo contacted to help restore the carving at the base of the dome on the White House in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1988. "It was more than a job; it was an actual feeling that exists around you. The hotel bill was more than the pay, but it was the greatest thing I ever did in my life."
Minervini said he missed the feeling of accomplishment after completing the job. So he accepted a commission from the Italian-American Association of Ocean Township and the township itself in 1991 for a piece honoring Christopher Colum-bus on the 500th anniversary of his voyage.
Research in many books proved his worthiness for Minervini’s effort. He volunteered his time to carve a bas-relief, a three-dimensional image, of "the moment of certainty" as the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria sailed to the New World.
Minervini realized that he was truly an artist at the unveiling of his monument at the Ocean Township Library in 1992. Emotions affected Minervini as he recalled how the powerful sight drew tears of pride from a "tough Italian guy."
A granite plaza surrounds the limestone work. Minervini said that whenever he is in the vicinity, he goes a few blocks out of his way to scrutinize it.
SSpotlighting Italian achievements then took a different path for Minervini, an award-winning member of Italian-American and social groups. In order to combat the ignorance that breeds stereotypes, he organized programs on internment of Italians and Italians’ protection of Jews during World War II, and another program on carving stone, all through Brookdale Community College, Lincroft.
Minervini recently decided that he could more effectively accomplish that purpose if he resumed the longer-lasting craft. Following the hiatus, he carved a limestone bas-relief of a chrysanthemum for his wife for Christmas and experimented with foreign stone.
An incomplete clay model of another bas-relief shows different stages in Frank Sinatra’s career. When it is finished, Minervini hopes to get permission to present it to Hoboken, Sinatra’s hometown and Minervini’s first hometown on this continent in 1958.
Minervini said that Bruce Springsteen, who is half-Italian, deserves to have a sculpture of himself donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to the artist, New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Palaia of Monmouth County is the kind of positive Italian role model who should be immortalized.
Minervini longs to celebrate great Italian-Americans like Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, decorated World War II hero John Baselone and Rocky Marciano with a huge round bas-relief. He said he needs only a sponsor to trigger the birth of the project.
Minervini credits his wife, who manages his business, with fulfilling him so that he can be creative. While she paints, daughters Tina and Diana apply their artistic talents to their personal crafts and careers in education.
Studies in a maritime school in Italy promised a life at sea, but the young teen-ager came to the United States with his family before he could board a ship. When he became an adult, he entered the field of machining, which he had learned at the school.
Minervini founded Dependable Machining Co. 31 years ago and moved it in 1978 to Freehold in a neighborhood that he said is ideal for machining and carving stone. Making metal parts for the printing industry involves removing the excess, just like stone carving, he said.
"The art of stone carving is alive and well in Freehold," he said. "It is one of many different professions held by Italians that people need to know about."

