CRAFT STORIES | THE AMERICAS | USA | PLASTER
The Last Plaster Casting Workshop in San Francisco
Lorna Kollmeyer did not start out with a grand business plan; nevertheless, her ornamental plaster and studio in Hunters Point Shipyard, San Francisco, are a masterclass in creativity and innovation. Her spectacular workshop, the last of its kind in the city, is a place that honors craftsmanship and artistry.
From the weather-beaten heights of Hunters Point Shipyard, the San Francisco skyline rises like a distant mirage framed by the endless expanse of the bay. Cracked windows of abandoned buildings streaked with the patina of salt air and time stand as silent witnesses to a bygone era. Sitting quietly within the timeworn walls of what seems like a deserted community, there lies a sanctuary of craftsmanship where the essence of artistry lingers in every corner: the last remaining plaster workshop in San Francisco. Light spills through tall, dust-covered windows, and a faint, earthy aroma lingers in the air as I am warmly welcomed inside the workshop by owner, Lorna Kollmeyer, and it seems the threads of fate wove her path toward this craft as she begins to tell me her story.
“This wasn’t part of a master plan I had creatively come up with,” she says. “It’s the result of my passive decisions with a series of jobs life offered me.” A collegiate basketball player with a degree in liberal arts, Lorna spent a year playing in Avignon, France, before a moment of pause and a trip to San Francisco would change the course of her life forever. While working different jobs, she met Peter and Helene Marchant, who restored abandoned Victorian houses. It was her first exposure to plaster casting and where she would find her calling, Lorna eventually took over their business. With her first major commission—restoring the facade of the turn-of-the-century Hotel Majestic—she sealed her fate as the guardian of the largest archive of plaster impressions from San Francisco’s historic buildings.
Forty years later, and with the addition of partners Amy and Mike, the plaster studio is a harmonious blend of function and artistry, where the pragmatic pulse of a workplace meets the curated elegance of a showroom. A gallery-like space displays an array of ornate ceiling medallions particular to San Francisco, which are “very different from the East Coast and Midwest medallions, which are more classical and Georgian,” Lorna explains.
Decorative corbels, plaques and brackets with different motifs, cartouches, scrolls, and a variety of reliefs cover the walls, their surfaces polished to reveal in soft light the subtle artistry of the craft. An assemblage of lions, cherubs, and mythological faces inspired by a visit to Sir John Soane’s Museum is showcased as an homage to the British architect.
In the rear of the studio, the rhythmic hum of creation fills the air—utility sinks, mixing troughs, cans brimming with tools and gloves scattered across tables covered in layers of fine plaster dust. Below the tables, remnants of casts lay scattered, all a testament to countless hours of dedication. Shelves stacked with collections of rubber molds stand as silent custodians of the city’s history, each piece a marker of time and innovation.
“The Hunters Point angels have been on our shoulders by affording us the space to work in and house this collection. My hope is to continue the legacy and pass the craft on to future generations.”
Words by Parissa Mostaedi
Images by Taylor O’Brien
Creative by Liz Gardner
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