Simeon Warren: Success in Stone

Simeon Warren is an accomplished stone carver and conceptual artist, recognized for his artistic soul and pragmatic craftsmen hands. He was born in Oldham, Lancashire, UK, and lived in a small village on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border until the age of six when his family started to move every three years. He now resides in Charleston with his college sweetheart and two daughters. As a result of his time in both England and Charleston, one of the first things many notice about Simeon is his accent - a magical mix of the Queen’s English and southern twang. As a child, Simeon enjoyed making clay sculpture models of movie scenes after watching the original Star Wars film. This childhood hobby eventually morphed into stone carving. Simeon’s career began at Weymouth College where he earned an Advanced Craft Certificate in Masonry from the City and Guilds of London Institute, completing his apprenticeship at Lincoln Cathedral. From there he moved on to work in the field and produced stone for a number of historic buildings in England including the Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. In the middle of such accomplishments, Simeon decided to heed the call of his artistic side, and returned to school at Glasgow School of the Arts to study conceptual and environmental art. It was after obtaining this degree that he moved to Charleston, and became involved with the School of Building Arts. A few years after being hired as the first full time faculty member of Charleston’s School of Building Arts, he delivered the College’s initial License to the local Commission on Higher Education and became Dean of the American College of Building Arts. Simeon commented that his role at the American College of Building Arts to be first and foremost about “teaching students how to work materials and create using their hands and minds.” Simeon stepped down as Dean of the College in 2013 in order to concentrate on his family, his teaching, building his private architectural stone practice and developing the ideas behind his project called The Stone People, a public art and multimedia project that combines contemporary sculpture, architectural stone work, written word, photographic archaeology and more. Simeon also dedicates his newfound time to his conservation company called S.A. Warren and Daughters. Simeon’s work can be seen around Charleston in the conserved coping that surrounds Washington Park, the repaired original stone leopard that stands guard inside the People’s Building, and the ongoing work on the stairs and stone fireplaces at the William Washington House on South Battery. Historic Charleston Foundation presented Simeon Warren with the Samuel Gaillard Stoney Conservation Craftsmanship Award in 2016 for his excellence in the field of stone carving and conservation and his continuing efforts to educate a new generation of craftspeople.