NICK BENSON: A FRIEND, A MASTER, A MUSE

Nick isn’t just any stone carver—he’s a third-generation master, leading The John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island. When you peel back the layers, though, what strikes me most isn’t his lineage—it’s his heart. He learned the trade from his father*, soaking up calligraphy and type design in Basel, then returned to reinvent what hand-lettered stone could be.