Art Chowder September | October Issue No. 29 | Page 56

JOEY MARCELLA Excellence in Marble Marc McIntosh SPOKANE VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL PRESIDENT Did you know that the person who was awarded the prestigious Grande Pinnacle Award (given by the Natural Stone Institute) lives in the Spokane area? A judge said of his work “Never in my 40 years in this industry have I seen anything as creative.” That person is Joey Marcella. Joey Marcella leads a double life in the world of marble. Most notably, he is the President of Mario & Son, a natural stone fabricator in Liberty Lake, Washington. He is also the Executive Director of the Stone Fabricator’s Alliance, for which he is a frequent lecturer at industry trade shows and events. He has been involved in the natural stone industry for over 30 years, and is the recent recipient of the Natural Stone Institute’s Craftsman of the Year award and Stone World magazine’s Fabricator of the Year, a national publication to which he is a regular column contributor. Joey travels the world extensively to source slab materials for the numerous residential and commercial customers the company services, as well as cubic and full block materials specialized for the architectural branch of the firm for liturgical and artist endeavors. This has led Joey into his “other” life as a self-taught sculptor. 56 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE