The Furniture Society, founded in 1996, [1] is a membership-based, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation working to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering understanding of this art. The Society, based in Asheville, North Carolina, has an international membership comprising furniture makers, designers, educators, museum and gallery professionals, scholars, journalists, collectors, students and the interested public. [2]
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. Membership in the Furniture Society is open to all who have an interest in furniture.
The Society convenes an annual conference, in locations across the United States and in Canada, usually in June. Each conference offers keynotes, artists’ presentations, practical demonstrations, theoretical discussions and business improvement seminars. Past venues have included: [3]
The Furniture Society has sponsored several major exhibitions of studio furniture. These include:
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. The honorees exemplify lives devoted to study, work, and craft, as well as the education of others in the field.
The award is presented each year as a major event during the annual conference. Past recipients of the award include: [4]
Year | Name | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Arthur Espenet Carpenter Wendell Castle Tage Frid James Krenov Sam Maloof | ||
2002 | John Makepeace Jere Osgood Alan Peters | [5] [6] | |
2003 | Jonathan Leo Fairbanks William Keyser | [7] | |
2004 | Garry Knox Bennett | ||
2005 | Judy Kensley McKie | [8] | |
2006 | Tommy Simpson | [9] | |
2007 | Michael Fortune | [10] | |
2008 | Wendy Maruyama Walker Weed | ||
2009 | Vladimir Kagan | ||
2010 | John Cederquist | ||
2012 | Rosanne Somerson | [11] | |
2014 | Bebe Johnson Warren Johnson | awarded jointly as Pritam & Eames | [12] |
2015 | Thomas Hucker | ||
2016 | Edward S. Cooke | ||
2018 | Craig Nutt | [13] | |
2019 | Tom Loeser | [14] | |
2020 | Kristina Madsen | [15] | |
The Awards were first presented in 2001, at the annual Furniture Society conference held that year in Tempe, Arizona. Five craftsmen were honored simultaneously in the first presentation, in order to make up for time lost in planning and funding the awards and to insure that these five iconic figures in furniture making and education were properly recognized in their lifetimes. One of the initial honorees, Tage Frid, was unable to attend the ceremony due to health issues and died several months later. Three of the other initial honorees—Art Carpenter, Sam Maloof and James Krenov are now deceased.
Although the Award of Distinction has most often been presented to furniture makers and educators, anyone who has made significant contributions to the field of studio furniture can be considered. In 2003, for example, one of the honorees was furniture historian and curator Jonathan Fairbanks
Five biennial journals on Studio Furniture have been published by the Furniture Society: Furniture Studio: The Heart of the Functional Arts, 1999 [16] Furniture Studio: Tradition in Contemporary Furniture, 2001 [17] Furniture Studio: Furniture Makers Exploring Digital Technologies, 2005 [18] Furniture Studio: Focus on Materials, 2006 [19] and Furniture Studio: The Meaning of Craft, 2007 [20] 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 quarterly print newsletter, Furniture Matters. Recent Furniture Society publications also include The Maker's Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940-1990 (168 pages, illustrated), 2003 from the Museum of Fine Arts Publications, [21] Mind & Hand: Contemporary Studio Furniture (160 pages, illustrated), 2012 [22] and Rooted: Creating a Sense of Place: Contemporary Studio Furniture (160 pages, illustrated), 2015, [23] both from Schiffer Publishing.
Paul Edmund Soldner was an American ceramic artist and educator, noted for his experimentation with the 16th-century Japanese technique called raku, introducing new methods of firing and post firing, which became known as American Raku. He was the founder of the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in 1966.
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically trained within a popular tradition, rather than in the fine art tradition of the culture. There is often overlap, or contested ground with 'naive art'. "Folk art" is not used in regard to traditional societies where ethnographic art continue to be made.
Tage Frid was a Danish-born woodworker, educator and author who influenced the development of the studio furniture movement in the United States. His design work was often in the Danish-modern style, best known for his three legged stool and his publications.
Wendell Castle was an American sculptor and furniture maker and an important figure in late 20th century American craft. He has been referred to as the "father of the art furniture movement" and included in the "Big 4" of modern woodworking with Wharton Esherick, George Nakashima, and Sam Maloof.
The Art Directors Guild is a labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 3,278 motion picture and television professionals in the United States and Canada.
John Axel Prip, also known as Jack Prip (1922–2009), was an American master metalsmith, industrial designer, and educator. He was known for setting standards of excellence in American metalsmithing. His works and designs have become famous for bringing together the formal, technical tradition of Danish design into harmony with the American desire for innovation. Several of his designs for the Reed and Barton Company are still in production today.
Judith Schaechter is a Philadelphia-based artist known for her work in the medium of stained glass. Her pieces often use symbolism from stained glass and Gothic traditions, but the distorted faces and figures in her work recall a 20th century German Expressionist painting style and her subject matter is secular. Shaechter's work often involves images that might be considered disturbing such as death, disease, or violence. Early Schaechter pieces, for example, such as King of Maggots and Vide Futentes make use of memento mori, symbols of death found in church architecture during medieval times.
Studio furniture is an American sub-field of studio craft centered on 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. This conception of the site of production as being a studio links studio furniture to studio art and reflects its status as an individual creative process. From the earliest furniture of the Arts and Crafts movement to modern-day works of art, studio furniture can be generalized as handmade functional objects that serve as a medium for intellectual and emotional expression and indicate social and cultural concerns of the maker or community. The Furniture Society is an organization devoted to the history and legacy of studio furniture.
Mel Lindquist was an American engineer and renowned pioneer of the American Studio Wood Turning movement.
Jere Osgood is an American studio furniture maker, and teacher of furniture and woodworking. He taught for many years in the Boston University Program in Artisanry.
Rosanne Somerson is an American-born woodworker, furniture designer/maker, educator, and former President of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). An artist connected with the early years of the Studio Furniture, her work and career have been influential to the field.
Carol Milne is an internationally recognized Canadian American sculptor living in Seattle, Washington. She is best known for her Knitted Glass work, winning the Silver Award, in the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa Japan 2010.
Kay Sekimachi is an American fiber artist and weaver, best known for her three-dimensional woven monofilament hangings as well as her intricate baskets and bowls.
Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) is a nonprofit international organization founded in 1997 that advocates for the field of contemporary art jewelry through education, discourse, publications, grants, and awards.
The Society of Arts and Crafts is one of America's oldest arts and craft nonprofit organization. The Society moved to Boston's Seaport District in 2016 after being located on Newbury Street for over 40 years. The Society was incorporated by twenty-one individuals on June 28, 1897, and was then known as the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. The small group was representational of Boston's elites in the fields of teaching, art-making, architecture, and craft. The original Society began with the agreement to "develop and encourage higher artistic standards in the handcrafts."
Judy Kensley McKie is an American artist, furniture designer, and furniture maker. She has been making her signature style of furniture with carved and embellished animal and plant motifs since 1977. She is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ann Sutton is a British artist, author, educator and broadcaster. She gained international recognition as an innovative textile artist and designer from the 1950s and has continued to develop her making and research in other media to the present day.
Gyöngy Laky is an American sculptor living and working in San Francisco, California. Her work has been exhibited in the U.S., Europe, Asia and South America. She gained recognition early in her career for her linear sculptures constructed in the architectural methods of textile arts. “Laky’s art manifests architectonic sensibility. She is as much an engineer as she is an artist in the conventional sense.” She is also known for her site-specific, outdoor, temporary installations.
Lillian Wolock Elliott (1930–1994) was an American fiber artist, and textile designer. She is known for her innovative basket craft.
Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker, installation artist, muralist, and graphic designer. Wilson is the first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.
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