Boothbay stone sculptor Dick Alden has cut, prepped and polished a 500-pound granite slab that is soon to be unveiled as a memory bench to commemorate the life of the late artist Jim Taliana.

Over 3,600 pounds of native granite called Heritage Valley stone was dropped off at Alden's “Starfish Studio” on Back Narrows Road in Boothbay on April 15.

Alden said he has spent over 60 hours smoothing over the 8-foot-long, 44-inch-wide flat stone that will form the seat of the bench.

Swirls of creamy whites, blues and grays form striations that gently sweep through the granite. To spectators the stone has a magical quality to become a whale at one glance, or a bird in the blink of an eye, Alden said.

“I like to work with a lot of curves,” Alden said. “When I saw this piece up at J.C. Stone, it stuck out. You just don't usually get all that white in granite.”

Alden then used a wedge to split a boulder in two to construct the sturdy bench legs. He applied a clear sealant called Pro Flex to hold all the pieces together.

The plan is to have the bench set back on the grass at the Whale Park facing out to the water, Alden said.

The installation is set for May 30 at around 8 a.m. in the Whale Park, a place where Taliana painted throughout the summer during art shows he would also organize. The official dedication for the bench is slated for Labor Day Weekend, so that all of Taliana's family can attend.

“In the spirit of Jim, he would have wanted people using the bench all summer long,” said Barbara Eldred of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation.

The Taliana memory bench has been a community effort coordinated by BRAF since January 2013. Donations can be made to the Boothbay Region Art Foundation with a note saying “Taliana Memory Bench,” at P.O. Box 124, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538.