“Stone carving requires a lot of effort to translate the idea into the natural beauty of the stone. Rock is hard and unyielding and always a great challenge. The challenge of stone carving is worth it though because, the end result is so three dimensional and alive.”

 

Rollie Anthony Grandbois was born in 1954 on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Belcourt, North Dakota.  He was one of 10 children. Rollie served in the U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division, 1973-1978. Rollie moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1979 and graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 1983.  He is a celebrated Chippewa Stone Carver, known for his beautiful stone carvings. Grandbois is said to be one of the first artists in New Mexico to use a hydraulic-powered diamond chainsaw in his work. Grandbois divided his time between Santa Fe and his studio, home and gallery in Jemez Springs, N.M.

 

Rollie travelled the world for sculpture exhibits and at the invitation of cultural dignitaries to visit quarries and other stone carvers.  A piece of his work was purchased by The Peace Museum in Hiroshima. His work has been in galleries and exhibitions throughout the United States such as Atka Lakota Museum in Chamberlain, SD, Viejas Casino in Alpine, CA and Turtle Mountain Heritage Center in Belcourt, ND.  He has shown at the Galerie Bruer Mahler in Frankfurt, Germany and at the Commune of Pertert-Wasserbilling in Luxemborg. His work is in corporate, private, and tribal collections in the United States and in the Noyuki Soga Collection in Nagoya, Japan.

 

You’ll hear many stories about Rollie, most of them true.  One of those stories is, he gave private sculpture lessons to Bob Dylan, which he did in 1998 at Dylan’s home in Point Dume, California.

 

Rollie Grandbois died of a heart attack on May 5th, 2016... He is greatly missed.