Ask anyone involved in the Maine arts scene: Jesse Salisbury rocks. Literally.

The Steuben sculptor was the brains and brawn behind the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, which drew artists of international repute to Winter Harbor last summer. The resulting sculptures have been placed in towns Down East, and plans are already under way for the 2009 symposium.

On Sunday, Salisbury left for Aswan, Egypt, where he will participate in an international sculpture symposium sponsored by the Egyptian Cultural Ministry in Cairo. The two-month event will feature a total of 14 artists from Egypt, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Iraq and the United States.

“This is quite an exciting thing for him and for us, too,” said Gerry Williams, the press coordinator for the Schoodic symposium.

According to Williams, Aswan is the site of ancient granite quarries that were used during the days of the Pharaohs. Unfinished sculptures and obelisks still reside in the quarries. Salisbury’s sculpture, along with those of his colleagues, will be on view at the open-air museum in Aswan.