Furniture Design & Woodworking

In this workshop, students design and make custom sculptural lighting. We create a hanging pendant or table-top lamp from a combination of wood and other translucent biomaterials such as bioplastics, paper, bark, or found materials. We discuss media experimentation, shadow play, surface patterns, texturing, and luminosity with an emphasis on exploring how material interacts with light. Students gain experience making biomaterials and employ creative woodworking skills, and each student creates an illuminating sculptural wood lamp that they can take home.

Students gain a foundational understanding of bent lamination in this introductory woodworking course that focuses on the potential of the curved wood form. Through a process of gluing multiple layers of wood and employing a variety of special jigging techniques, we explore how bent lamination can expand a creative practice. Students learn how to use a combination of accessible equipment such as tire tubes and clamps, as well as professional equipment including molds and vacuum bag systems. Students will walk away with new skills, as well as curved bent forms created in class to exist on their own or be incorporated into a larger sculptural or furniture piece outside of class.

Anderson Ranch’s Studio Session approach provides artists the opportunity to work on independent projects while receiving regular one-on-one mentoring and critique sessions with Anderson Ranch artistic staff and interns. Each participant receives an assigned studio space, orientation and access to equipment, as well as five hours of weekly technical guidance in the Ranch’s state-of-the-art facilities. This program affords artists the experience enjoyed by national and international artists who access our state-of-the-art studios. Participants may expand their practices, take artistic risks, try new media or complete works for exhibition. *Bench and gluing rooms open 24 hours a day. LIMITED machine tool room access from 9am – 5pm and evening open tool room hours 7pm – 9pm Monday through Thursday. Studio Sessions are available to artists with prior experience in woodworking, tools, and safety. All participants will be required to attend safety orientations for the facilities and specific tools they will use. they will use. TO APPLY: Portfolios will be accepted on a rolling basis. Instructions on how to submit your portfolio are as follows: Submit digital images of your work in one single PDF (as opposed to individual JPG attachments) via email directly to Lane Preston, Studio Coordinator of Woodworking & Furniture Design, at [email protected] The single PDF must be less than 10 MB to be considered. Include 5-10 images of your work with image identification that lists the title, media, dimensions and year of each image. While not required, it is helpful to see an artist statement addressing the images you send. Include “Advanced Portfolio Review” in the subject line of your email, as well as the studio session you are applying for. Please provide a phone number where you can be reached and a link to your website. Submissions that do not follow the requested directions will not be reviewed.