Furniture Design & Woodworking

Take your digital fabrication skills to a higher level in this advanced virtual workshop all about the CNC router. Demonstrations include design considerations for outputting to a 3-axis CNC, but the emphasis is placed on writing 2D and 3D toolpaths. Students learn everything from feeds and speeds, to bit selection, to 3-axis machine operation. This deep dive into the complex process of computer-aided machining (CAM) empowers participants to push their artistic practices into a new realm of fabrication. Previous CAD (computer-aided design) experience is necessary to enroll in this course. Though no specific software is required for CAD, we will use V-Carve Pro and Fusion 360 for toolpathing. The workshop culminates in a final project to be fabricated on the CNC routers at Anderson Ranch and mailed back to students with shipping and materials covered by the studio fee.  This workshop meets 4-5:30PM on Mondays and Wednesdays for group sessions, and 4-5:30PM for office hours. Please note that the first Tuesday only will be a group session, not office hours. Zoom Video Conferencing software (download free from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. An Anderson Ranch staff member will coordinate the online platform. Further details will be emailed to registrants.

Anderson Ranch invites you to join our online community to participate in a stimulating and interactive Critical Dialog Program about the spacious world of contemporary sculpture, installation and performance. Through lectures, readings and discussions with leading contemporary artists, this monthly virtual course explores process, spacial considerations and community activations/engagements. Topics for discussion and exploration include maintaining inspiration within a studio practice, intentional materials choices and strategies for collaboration, participation and intervention. All are welcome to join us in this conversation. January 18 & 20, 2021 - Arthur Simms – An Artist in a Time of Isolation Arthur Simms tells his personal story of maintaining a studio practice while in isolation through using available resources and motivating himself to continue to develop a visual narrative through found objects. Arthur is best known for his found-object sculptures composed of everyday objects such as bicycle wheels, bottles, stones, chairs, rope and wire, his work connects the disparate elements of the diasporic experience. February 15 & 17, 2021- Kalup Linzy – Crossing Boundaries and Merging Media Kalup Linzy discusses how his work explores cultural identities, gender fluidity, and boundaries across various mediums—including video, performance, photography, collage, fashion, television, music, and film. March 15 & 17, 2021 - Cesar Cornejo – Social Practice and the Studio Cesar Cornejo addresses the relationship between the solitude of studio practice and the collaborative spirit of social based practice, focusing on how each feeds into the other and their particular challenges and possibilities when tackling larger problems like a global pandemic. April 19 & 21, 2021 - Kelly Taylor Mitchell – Sensory Installation and its Potential for Creating an Immersive Experience Kelly Taylor Mitchell discusses the elements of an installation that can entrench a participant in time, space, smell, texture and imagery to captivate both physically and emotionally. May 17 & 19, 2021 - Gracelee Lawrence – Digital Erotics: The Biocyborg’s Dilemma Gracelee Lawrence explores the notion of biocyborgism in the tensions between digital and physical materiality. Using the lens of the erotic, or being in relation to the unknown, the idea of biocyborgism is embodied in the fantasy or human evolution choosing soft rather than hard technology.

In this workshop, students learn to use the CNC (computer numerically controlled) Router and Rhino 3D CAD (computer-aided design) software with the objective of producing a small lighting fixture or stand-alone illuminated object. Participants learn how to design for the CNC Router as well as how to integrate some traditional methods alongside digital fabrication techniques. An emphasis is placed on translating three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional toolpaths.