Stone carvers wanted

I read the other day that Notre Dame Cathedral almost didn’t survive the April fire. But it did. And while “still in a precarious state” (i.e., they’re still stabilizing the structure), there are plans in place to fully restore the cathedral, “a process that will take years.”

And that means demand for workers with the same set of skills that those who built Notre Dame nearly a thousand years ago possessed.

Fortunately, there’s a school in Paris – Hector Guimard – where stone masons are trained on how to “maintain and restore France’s historical monuments.” The program is intense and demanding.

Every year, about 30 new stonemasons graduate either with this [professional] degree, the professional license in stone carving for historic monuments, or a less advanced diploma in stone carving. (Source: NPR)

And in the wake of the Notre Dame fire, those new stonemasons are going to be in demand. And have reasonably good job security.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s President, has predicted that the restoration will take five years. But the students at Hector Guimard think he has, well, rocks in his head.

As [student François] Menut puts it, "You can't be president and stone carver at the same time."

C’est si vrai.

For those looking for the professional degree – a two-year post-baccalaureate program -

…students must also take classes in math, French, computer design, geography and art history.

"Art history is extremely important," says Eliette Coutherut, the head of the Saint Lambert center [which offers the degree in conjunction with Hector Guimard]. "You can't work the stone without knowing its history and the different currents that influenced architecture."

By the time the students earn their degrees, Coutherut says, they've had four years of training in stone carving, due to requirements to enter the degree program. On graduating, they are fully qualified to work, either alone or as part of a masonry stone carving team on France's most treasured historic monuments.

As part of their course, they also serve an apprenticeship.

Hmmmm. I look back on my rather meager degrees, which didn’t fully qualify me to do much of anything useful. I could think and write, but, hey, I could do that before I went to college. But that was then and this is now.

The stone carver degree program was started after World War II, when so many of France’s historic gems were damaged.

There’s an alternative to becoming a licensed stone carver by degree. There’s “Les Compagnons du Devoir” (Companions of Duty), a guild that follows the same professed used for training during the Middle Ages.

To become a "compagnon" takes at least five years of rigorous training, and apprentices are expected to travel around France working on different sites. The apprentices live and eat together and follow certain customs. They have gained a near-mythic status in France.

Naturally, I needed to know more about the Compagnons. Yikes! I was thinking they were sort of Civil War re-enactors learning their trade, but they work like dogs, live communally, and – sort of like religious brothers and nuns – are given new names. Only the names reflect where they’re from, rather than saints. Sort of cultish…

If I had to pick one approach, I’d go the degree route. Something about the communal living. Plus the folks studying in Paris get to use leading-edge technology. There’s even a 3D stone carving app. Not that students consider tech all that. As one said, “drawing by hand is still the best way to acquire that skill."

While there have been people drawn to the restoration degree program since 1945, the Notre Dame fire has brought on a new sense of urgency. There’s a new initiative, in conjunction with the government:

…"France Worksite" to promote the restoration of heritage sites and revive young people's interest in old professions like stone carving.

Even if they bring a lot more students in, sounds like it takes too long to get trained to help Macron meet his five year goal. Still, kind of cool that people can pursue these grand old professions. Nice to know that everyone hasn’t been swept up in the digital revolution!