Carly Miller is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the free, decade-old stone carving class offered in Hunter is looking for additional funding to keep the popular two-week program operational, and funding for the summer 2018 Hunter Stone Carving Seminar was cut 75 percent by the Greene County Council on the Arts. The seminar is run by local artist Kevin Van Hentenryck and his assistant, Chris Juris. During its 10-year run, the bluestone carving workshop has attracted 650 students to the mountaintop, Van Hentenryck said. “It’s the only free program of its kind,” he said. “Every one of those 650 students spends money in the town.” The program depends on outside funding, as well as donated materials. The program traditionally receives most of its funding through the decentralization program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Greene County Council on the Arts. A funding cut could affect the program’s length, as well as resources, said Van Hentenryck. Kay Stamer, executive director of the Greene County Council on the Arts said, “The decentralization funding for the New York State Council on the Arts, they have strict mandates. ...It’s not like we don’t love the stone carving workshop, it’s just what New York State Council on the Arts looks for,” Stamer said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.