Photos for Legacy of Talent: A Moser Reunion:
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Green Design Furniture, Doug Green -
S2 Side Table 34H X 22W X 16D Photo Credit Courtesy of Green Design Furniture
Doza Lounge Chair, Cherry with Walnut Inlay, 39 ¼ H X 32 ¾ W X 34D Photo Credit Courtesy of Green Design Furniture -
Thos. Moser Cabinet Makers, Tom Moser -
Signature piece, Moser Continuous Arm Chair 41"H x 24"W x 25"D. Photo Courtesy of Thos. Moser Cabinet Makers -
Kevin Rodel Furniture & Design Studio, Kevin Rodel -
Ikebana Table, Ebonized Cherry, Cypress & Glass, 20H X 82L X 28 ½ D, Photo Credit – Dennis Griggs
Argyle Server, Oak, Art Glass & Tiles, 63 ½ H X 57 L X 20 ½ D, Photo Credit – Dennis Griggs -
Huston & Company, Bill Huston
Prism Table, 17H X 42Dia, Photo credit Courtesy of Houston & Company
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 29, 2008
Margaret Jones, Senior Administrator mj@woodschool.org
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship
207-594-5611
LEGACY OF TALENT: A MOSER REUNION
Exhibition Dates: Friday, Sept. 12 – Nov. 28, 2008
On September 12, 2008 the exhibition “Legacy of Talent: A Moser Reunion” opens at the Messler Gallery of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport. It presents contemporary pieces by Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers in conjunction with work by seven accomplished furniture makers who passed through the Moser workshops early in their careers. These are Jas. Becker Cabinetmaker from Wilder, Vermont; Green Design Furniture from Portland, Maine; Huston & Co. from Kennebunkport, Maine; Kevin Rodel Furniture & Design Studio from Brunswick, Maine; Peter Thompson from Cornville, Maine; Vigneron Design Studio from Housatonic, Massachusetts; and Stewart Wurtz Furniture from Seattle, Washington.
In 1972, Tom Moser left a teaching career to rediscover the art of furniture making in an old Grange Hall in New Gloucester, Maine. Today, Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers employs nearly 100 craftsmen to produce an extensive line of residential and institutional furniture, yet the work retains Moser’s original commitment to the natural beauty of wood, enduring construction, and simple, unadorned, graceful design.
Most of the exhibitors in “Legacy of Talent” started with Moser in the Grange Hall, lured by the romance of craftsmanship. Bill Huston was one of only four craftsmen working at the bench when he started in 1976. By the time he moved on to found his own company, in 1988, he had risen to general manager and the business grown considerably. “I learned that bigger is neither better nor worse, “says Huston, “just different. What’s amazing is how much the craftsmen at Moser have continued to care about the quality of their work, regardless of size.” Today Huston employs four craftsmen building his own line of residential and institutional furniture, which can be seen at his Kennebunkport showroom. “What I love most,” he says, “is interacting with my customers, so I’ve purposely kept my business at a personal scale.”
Kevin Rodel worked at Moser from 1979-1985, during which time the Grange Hall was populated by six cabinetmakers and five chair makers and Moser handled his continuing expansion needs by opening a second, larger facility in Lewiston, Maine. Today, Rodel is an international authority on Arts & Crafts furniture, building one piece at a time in his Brunswick studio and offering design services for larger projects. He is also co-author, with Jonathan Binzen, of Arts & Crafts Furniture: from Classic to Contemporary (Taunton Press, 2003.)
Doug Green left a small, one-man workshop to work for Moser from 1981-1982. At Moser’s he discovered a talent for streamlining production techniques which led him to take a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute in New York and then to found his own company, Green Furniture Design. Today Green employs five craftsmen making high-end furniture for a national customer base, using his own patented joinery technology.
Every maker in the show has an interesting background, but it is the furniture on display in “Legacy of Talent” that tells the story. It illustrates how passing through the Moser workshops boosted the trajectories of seven talented craftsmen, all of whom have gone on to explore exciting new directions and inspire others with their own significant design accomplishments.
Messler Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The Messler Gallery is located on the campus of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, at the corner of Route 90 and Mill Street in Rockport, Maine. The exhibition can also be viewed on the Center’s website, www.woodschool.org.
The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship is a nonprofit school that offers courses in furniture making and related arts such as carving and woodturning. For more information, please call 207-594-5611 or e-mail cfc@woodschool.org.