The Messler Gallery is currently exhibiting the lighting designs of twenty makers and designers who work primarily in wood. Curator Christopher Poehlmann, himself an internationally recognized lighting designer, selected pieces for both their high levels of craft and design: “The makers in this exhibition.…all create objects of quality and lasting beauty, objects which stand apart from their mass-produced counterparts due to the skill of these designers and artists.” On view until January 3, 2018, Contemporary Wood Lighting is well worth a trip to Rockport!

The second project of the Nine-month Comprehensive is focused on honing machine skills and learning the value of well-made shop fixtures and tooling. For three weeks students all work on variations of a tool cabinet design: everyone relies on the same jigs and builds a cabinet of the same basic proportions, with the ability to customize the interior to best fit their personal tool collection.

Our Visiting Artists program invites highly accomplished, professional woodworkers on campus to explore innovation in their work. Visiting Artists share the 6,800-squarefoot Thomas Miller Jackson Building with participants in our Fellowship program, for whom they act as informal mentors. In addition, they enrich the experience of students and faculty in all programs through lectures, critiques and daily interaction.

Workshop season is full of JOY here at the woodschool. Mondays are one of my favorite days of the week as students arrive with the excitement and anticipation of their first day of class. For some this is a bucket list experience, for others a career enhancement, a curiosity, a continuation of a lifelong hobby, or a new exploration. Whatever it is that brings them here, our students are given a week or two filled with instruction on new skills or ideas to percolate when they return to their respective homes. From beginner to advanced, from traditional skills to the technological advancements of today, the workshop curricula is rich with valuable content each week. When I walk through the classroom I see smiles of satisfaction and accomplishment from both newly discovered skills and complex problem solving. It is my joy to see these smiles of our students while they are here on their woodworking holiday.

Our summer twelve-week Furniture Intensive is drawing to a close, and the workshop is a flurry of activity as students work long hours to complete their projects before leaving campus. It is a great time to take stock and reflect on everything the students have accomplished over the last couple of months.

Last week Garrett Hack was teaching here at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship for the twenty-first consecutive year. Garrett is an engaging and deeply knowledgeable instructor, and his week-long workshops here in Maine are waitlisted year after year. We are truly lucky to have him. Thank you, Garrett, for all your years here at the CFC!