The workshop in the course of the 4th "Artist at Work" art contest took place this time on the island of Mainau at Lake Constance. Ten selected up-and- coming artists were able to work on their sculptures in Santuro sandstone concrete for a whole week. At the following prize-giving ceremony, the jury awarded two 1st places, thereby honouring the high artistic quality of the works.

In his introductory words, Albrecht Braun, managing director and partner of "braun – Ideen aus Stein" and initiator of "Artist at Work", presented the art competition as a process in progress that has known continual development each year since it was first held in 1999. "The opportunities for artistic expression have broadened markedly through the utilisation of high-performance concretes, other working materials and colour pigments. The competition's intention of counteracting the prejudices against concrete as a stiff, cold material by demonstrating its scope of creative possibilities remains completely the same." One of the two first prizes went to Ramon Feller, a young Swiss art student for his work "Untitled" (five words two brackets). He combined the fragility of pliant bamboo plants with the heaviness of concrete and, in a poetic manner, carries the stiffness of concrete to absurdity by using the invisible strength of the plants. "The concrete elements in this artwork change with the growth of the bamboo and demonstrate that art is a living process," was the jury's explanation. The second 1st place was awarded to Lilith Becker, an artist from Stuttgart. Her work with the title "4/14/30/40/15" takes a critical look at the topic of food and the handling of foodstuffs. Her small-format sculptures shaped in the form of masks found a suitable place on the wall of the historical Grand Duke Friedrich terrace.

In March, the jury had already selected 10 participants for the week long art workshop from amongst the entries submitted. The winners received prize money totalling € 3,500 with their awards. The objects of art created can still be viewed on the grounds of the Mainau park until 16th October when they will be auctioned off for charitable purposes.