Before you even turn the corner into Schoodic Education and Research Center – long before the sculptors and their slabs of granite and basalt come into view – the noise hits you. Saw blades shriek and hammers ring as they hit stone. Clouds of rock dust fill the air, and before long, the artists at work look like they’ve been rolled in gray flour.

For visitors, a trip to the inaugural Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, which takes place through Sept. 10 in Winter Harbor, is a visceral experience.

For the seven participating sculptors, who hail from as close as Steuben and as far away as Japan, it is a chance to share ideas, explore their artistic vision and become one with the landscape – literally. All of the stone used in the symposium comes from within a 30-mile radius of the site, and in some cases, the artists were able to visit a quarry and choose their own materials.

“To come here and to be able to go where the stone is coming from, out of the ground, instead of going to a factory where you buy stone, has had a big impact,” Japanese sculptor Narihiro Uemura said through a translator on a recent afternoon. “In my work, part of my theme is a real respect for the stone, having seen where it comes from and what it is.”

The imagery of Uemura’s sculpture draws from the roadside shrines he sees in Japan, but without the religious connotation. If anything, his reverence is for the granite and basalt that formed the bedrock of a thriving industry in the early 19th century.

Maine has a rich commercial stonework tradition, and granite quarried in coastal communities such as Vinalhaven, Stonington and Deer Isle was used in monuments, buildings and bridges along the East Coast. Nearly every town in the state has a historical statue or two carved from granite.

But the sculptures in this symposium aren’t about war heroes and political figures. Instead, a panel of curators chose seven artists – three from Maine, four from around the world – who represent the best of contemporary stonework: Uemura; Dominika Griesgraber of Poland; Jo Kley of Germany; Ian Newbery of Sweden; and Mainers Don Justin Meserve, Roy Patterson and Jesse Salisbury, the symposium’s organizer.

“That’s what a symposium is,” said Meserve, a Round Pond sculptor who has traveled around the world to participate in similar symposia. “It’s about people who can’t speak the same language speaking the same language – that’s material. Material is our language.”

In late July, the group arrived in Winter Harbor and got to work on a variety of different forms. Some, such as the boat cleat Meserve is carving for Winter Harbor, draw their inspiration from the region’s fishing and seafaring heritage. Others, such as the tower Jo Kley is coaxing out of Sullivan granite, are a bit more abstract, though no less resonant.

“These towers to me are the symbol for a country or a house,” Kley explained during a break from carving granite. “When I spend a few weeks in a country, working together with people, I make friends. This tower is a symbol of a house for my friends and me, and I have houses in 14 or 15 countries, so I’m a very rich man.”

At the end of the six-week session, sculptures will be installed in public spaces in Ellsworth, the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park, Milbridge, Southwest Harbor, Steuben, Sullivan and Winter Harbor. Uemura’s sculpture will stand in a grassy area near the Ellsworth Public Library, and at least one local businessman couldn’t be happier.

“It’s great, because here in Ellsworth, we’re trying to develop ourselves as a community for the arts,” said David Herrington, the co-owner of Pyramid Studios.

He was heavily involved in downtown beautification efforts a decade ago, which included new sidewalks, street lamps and the grassy area. Though the initial plans called for a sculpture or granite bench in the space, there was only enough money left for a couple of bushes. The symposium will bring the project full-circle.

“This is a great opportunity to have public art outside on the street,” Herrington said. “I think it really is going to be a turning point in Ellsworth’s identity. … I can see people saying, ‘Meet me at the sculpture at 6 and we’ll go to The Grand.'”

That type of community connection is just what Salisbury had in mind when he spearheaded the symposium several years ago. From the beginning, he worked with local residents, donors and state arts officials to ensure that the gathering would be sustainable and well-received within the region.

“One of the things that makes Jesse’s project unique is how he’s rallied community support,” said Donna McNeil, assistant director of the Maine Arts Commission. “He’s a hometown guy, and really well-respected in the community. He’s really gotten people rallied around this idea, and I think that is how the public gets educated about public art.”

From the donations alone, it is clear that the public has thrown itself behind the project. The quarries gave all of the stone for free, and each participating town raised $5,000 toward the purchase of its sculpture, which the artists will receive as a stipend.

Among sculptors, the symposium has put Maine on the map internationally.

“They were really surprised to see something like this happening in America,” Salisbury said. “It’s a different concept. We’re not commissioning artwork. We want input and influence, but we’ve chosen these artists for what they do that’s unique in this medium.”

The state has a long history of international artists coming together at such venues as Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle or the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. But McNeil says those are well-established schools – mainstays in the national arts scene.

“They all started somewhere, and I think that’s what Jesse’s up to here,” she said.

Salisbury envisions the symposium becoming a biennial event over the next decade, which will result in the placement of contemporary stone sculpture throughout Hancock and Washington counties. Eventually, a map and accompanying educational materials will allow art lovers to take a sculpture tour Down East. McNeil calls the effort a “wonderful creative economy initiative” for the region.

Meserve calls it a renaissance of sorts – one that’s long overdue.

“There has always been a tradition of stone sculpture in Maine,” he said. “It never died. But it hasn’t really experienced the revival it deserves. … Sculpture is the new old thing being discovered again in Maine.”

Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium

Where: Schoodic Education and Research Center, Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park, Winter Harbor

When: Daily through Sept. 10

Participating artists: Dominika Griesgraber of Poland; Jo Kley of Germany; Ian Newbery of Sweden; Narihiro Uemura of Japan; and Don Justin Meserve, Roy Patterson and Jesse Salisbury of Maine.

Related events: “The Science, Art and History of Down East, Maine, Stone,” lecture by geologist Chris Koteas and sculptor Jesse Salisbury, 8 a.m.-noon Aug. 18, SERC campus. Call Kelly at 288-1316 to register. Closing reception, 1 p.m. Sept. 10, SERC campus.

For more information: visit www.schoodicsculpture.org.