NH Furniture Master's Exhibition

College of the Redwoods—NH Furniture Masters explore the role of education in Schools of Thought exhibition series.

First exhibition focuses on graduates of California’s College of the Redwoods

Concord, NH – A furniture maker’s training is the foundation of his or her future achievement. A solid education not only imparts technical skill, but also informs a maker’s vision for design. The New Hampshire Furniture Masters will examine the role of education in shaping a maker’s work in a new series of exhibitions entitled Schools of Thought. The first exhibition in the series, Schools of Thought I: College of the Redwoods, focuses on work from graduates of this prestigious California institution and includes works by current Furniture Masters John Cameron, Tim Coleman and Sam Norris as well as works by invited maker Brian Newell of Fort Bragg, California.

The show will be on view at the Furniture Masters’ Gallery, located at 49 South Main Street in Concord, NH, from March 14 through May 30, 2014. An opening reception will be held on April 4 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

The furniture program at the College of the Redwoods is recognized as one of the premier cabinetmaking programs in the country. The program’s founder, legendary cabinetmaker James Krenov, was a staunch advocate of technical skill and quality construction techniques. His philosophy centered on a reverence for the material with which he worked and an insistence on clean, harmonious design. This emphasis on the natural beauty of the wood and the skills needed to do it justice are the hallmarks of College of the Redwoods graduates.

In speaking of what he hoped students would experience at the school, Krenov (who passed away in 2009) noted: "We hope that in viewing what we are offering here, you will pay attention to the details, notice the results, and come to realize that if one cares enough, if one pays enough attention to the richness of wood, to the tools, to the marvel of one’s own hands and eye, all these things come together so that a person’s work becomes that person; that person’s message. In this work, in these details, in these elements, something of a person is included. Their fingerprints or their sense of proportion, line, and detail are there; and what you’re experiencing is something very personal from each of these people: something that they’ve put their heart and soul into."