Las Vegas, NV.---As the luminaries of the carved and dimensional stone industry gather to learn the latest about their craft; the Marble Institute of America (MIA) gathered to present the Pinnacle Awards.

The Marble Institute of America is the gold standard of quality for the dimensional stone industry world-wide. They are involved in every aspect of research, case studies and support to those working in the craft of applied natural stone in architecture. Annually MIA issues a call for entries, world-wide of projects thought to be the best expression of the use of natural stone. For 2011, the submissions came from all over the globe, including: Ireland, Canada, Thailand and the United States.

The submission categories included: Restoration/Renovation; Commercial Exterior; Commercial Interior; Residential Exterior/Interior and Sustainability. With several hundred projects submitted world-wide, the panel of judges met in Washington, D.C. to review and make the difficult decision of what project received a Merit Award, Pinnacle Award of Excellence and finally the Grande Pinnacle Award.

Nick Blantern was notified in the fall of 2010 that his company (Britishstone) had been selected to receive the Pinnacle Award of Excellence for his work in recreating the Spirit of the Ocean Fountain at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. This also meant that the Project was in the running to receive the Grande Pinnacle Award.

Of the three projects that received Pinnacle Award of Excellence; the Spirit of the Ocean was selected by the Judges to receive the Grande Pinnacle Award, because  it represented “...a fine, and all too rare example of commitment to excellence in art and in fabrication. Fine art and exquisite craft meet in this unique effort. The project’s quality and beauty culminate to a wonderful result in a project meaningful to the broad population.” 

The Legacy Foundation is very proud of “our” carvers for winning this prestigious award and to the Project Team, lead by architect Robert Ooley for being awarded the Grande Pinnacle Award! The project donors should be very proud that their commitment to supporting this critical project has been recognized globally as representing the craft of master stone carving.