The Furniture Society
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1996, The Furniture Society is a membership based, tax-exempt nonprofit 501 (C) 3 corporation. Its mission is to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering understanding of this art.
The Society, based in Asheville, NC, has an international membership comprising furniture makers, designers, educators, museum and gallery professionals, scholars, journalists, collectors, students and the interested public.
Built on a tradition of volunteerism, the Society provides a range of programs including annual conferences, exhibitions, publications, scholarships and awards of excellence. All programming is guided by the Society’s core values: opportunity, education, inspiration, community and contribution.
The highlight of each year’s schedule is the annual conference, which is convened in locations across the United States and in Canada, usually in June. Past venues have included Purchase, New York (1997 and 2008), San Francisco, California (1998), Smithville, Tennessee (1999), Toronto, Ontario (2000), Tempe, Arizona (2001), Madison, Wisconsin (2002), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2003), Savannah, Georgia (2004), San Diego, California (2005), Indianapolis, Indiana (2006), Victoria, British Columbia (2007), Boone, North Carolina (2009). Each conference offers inspirational keynotes, artists’ presentations, practical demonstrations, theoretical discussions, business improvement seminars and excellent opportunity for fellowship and networking.
Multiplicity: The art of the Furniture Prototype (2008)
Show Us Your Drawers (2006)
Curv-iture (2004)
The Maker's Hand (2004, co-sponsored with The Museum of Fine Art, Boston)
Cabinets of Curiosities (2003, co-sponsored with The Wood Turning Center)
WilsonArt Invitational (2003, co-sponsored with WilsonArt)
The Right Stuff (2002)
The Circle Unbroken (1999)
Contemporary North American Furniture (1997 -- invitational)
each year as a major event during the annual conference. This award recognizes artists, and occasionally others, who have had a profound impact in the field. Past recipients of the award, first given in 2001, are Art Carpenter, Wendell Castle
, Tage Frid
, James Krenov
, Sam Maloof
, John Makepeace
, Jere Osgood
, Alan Peters
, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks
, William Kaiser, Garry Knox Bennett
, Judy McKie, Tommy Simpson, Michael Fortune, Wendy Maruyama, Walker Weed and Vladimir Kagan
.
have been published by the Society, the most recent being Furniture Studio 5: The Meaning of Craft (130 pages, illustrated). These volumes offer essays on design, fabrication and history as well as a pictorial gallery of the finest work made from the 1990s on. The Society also publishes catalogs to accompany the major exhibitions of furniture that it has initiated or co-sponsored with leading institutions, and a distinguished quarterly print newsletter, Furniture Matters.
The Society, based in Asheville, NC, has an international membership comprising furniture makers, designers, educators, museum and gallery professionals, scholars, journalists, collectors, students and the interested public.
Built on a tradition of volunteerism, the Society provides a range of programs including annual conferences, exhibitions, publications, scholarships and awards of excellence. All programming is guided by the Society’s core values: opportunity, education, inspiration, community and contribution.
The highlight of each year’s schedule is the annual conference, which is convened in locations across the United States and in Canada, usually in June. Past venues have included Purchase, New York (1997 and 2008), San Francisco, California (1998), Smithville, Tennessee (1999), Toronto, Ontario (2000), Tempe, Arizona (2001), Madison, Wisconsin (2002), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2003), Savannah, Georgia (2004), San Diego, California (2005), Indianapolis, Indiana (2006), Victoria, British Columbia (2007), Boone, North Carolina (2009). Each conference offers inspirational keynotes, artists’ presentations, practical demonstrations, theoretical discussions, business improvement seminars and excellent opportunity for fellowship and networking.
Exhibitions
The Furniture Society has sponsored several major exhibitions of studio furniture. These include:Multiplicity: The art of the Furniture Prototype (2008)
Show Us Your Drawers (2006)
Curv-iture (2004)
The Maker's Hand (2004, co-sponsored with The Museum of Fine Art, Boston)
Cabinets of Curiosities (2003, co-sponsored with The Wood Turning Center)
WilsonArt Invitational (2003, co-sponsored with WilsonArt)
The Right Stuff (2002)
The Circle Unbroken (1999)
Contemporary North American Furniture (1997 -- invitational)
The Award of Distinction
The Society presents the Award of DistinctionAward of Distinction
The Award of Distinction is conferred annually by The Furniture Society upon one or more living individuals who are recognized as having had a profound impact on the field of Studio Furniture...
each year as a major event during the annual conference. This award recognizes artists, and occasionally others, who have had a profound impact in the field. Past recipients of the award, first given in 2001, are Art Carpenter, Wendell Castle
Wendell Castle
Wendell Castle is an American furniture artist and a leading figure in American craft. He is often credited with being the father of the art furniture movement....
, Tage Frid
Tage Frid
-Further reading:* Hank Gilpin, "Professor Frid," Fine Woodworking magazine 146 , pp. 80-85.* John Kelsey, "Tage Frid: A Talk with the Old Master," Fine Woodworking magazine 52 , pp. 66-67....
, James Krenov
James Krenov
thumb|A Krenov-style wooden smoothing plane.James Krenov was a woodworker and studio furnituremaker.- Biography :...
, Sam Maloof
Sam Maloof
Sam Maloof was a furniture designer and woodworker. He was born in Chino, California, USA, to parents who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon...
, John Makepeace
John Makepeace
John Makepeace OBE, , is a British furniture designer and maker. He bought Parnham House, Dorset in 1976 and founded the Parnham Trust and the School for Craftsmen in Wood to provide integrated courses in design, making and management for aspiring furniture-makers, alongside but...
, Jere Osgood
Jere Osgood
Jere Osgood is a leading studio furniture maker and noted teacher of furniture and woodworking. He taught for many years in the Program in Artisanry at the Boston University....
, Alan Peters
Alan Peters
Alan Peters OBE was a British furniture designer maker and one of the very few direct links with the Arts and Crafts Movement, having apprenticed to Edward Barnsley. He set up his own workshop in the Sixties...
, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks
Jonathan Leo Fairbanks
Jonathan Leo Fairbanks is an American artist and expert of American arts and antiques. Fairbanks created the American decorative arts and sculpture department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and served as the department’s Curator from 1970-1999.Fairbanks is the son of the American sculptor,...
, William Kaiser, Garry Knox Bennett
Garry Knox Bennett
Garry Knox Bennett is an American woodworker, furniture maker, metalworker and artist, known for his whimsical, inventive and unconventional uses of materials and designs in his work...
, Judy McKie, Tommy Simpson, Michael Fortune, Wendy Maruyama, Walker Weed and Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan, , furniture designer. Emigrated to the United States in 1938. Graduated from the School of Industrial Art in 1946, where he was an architecture major. Studied architecture at Columbia University. Opened his first shop in New York in 1949...
.
Publications
Five biennial journals on Studio FurnitureStudio Furniture
Studio Furniture is a subfield of Studio Craft centered around one-of-a-kind or limited production furniture objects designed and built by craftspeople. The work is made in a craftsperson's studio setting as opposed to being made in a high volume factory...
have been published by the Society, the most recent being Furniture Studio 5: The Meaning of Craft (130 pages, illustrated). These volumes offer essays on design, fabrication and history as well as a pictorial gallery of the finest work made from the 1990s on. The Society also publishes catalogs to accompany the major exhibitions of furniture that it has initiated or co-sponsored with leading institutions, and a distinguished quarterly print newsletter, Furniture Matters.