December 2022 – Wu Hanyen is a woodworker, movement practitioner, and educator based in Providence, RI. Her studio Work in Use produces high-end movement tools that are meant to be displayed in the home and celebrated for their craft and materiality. She has a background in graphic design from the University of Texas, an MFA in Furniture Design from Rhode Island School of Design and is currently an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
In 2021 Wu received CFC’s Cynthia Pellegrini Scholarship to take two turning workshops with Beth Ireland. Of her experience she shares, “getting to learn turning from Beth was one of the most incredible educational experiences. Beth is an amazing teacher who has an ability to bring together people of any age, cultural, socioeconomic and political background; she can make everyone feel like they have a place and a voice in her classroom.”
The following summer Wu returned for the workshop “Metalworking for Woodworkers” taught by Erica Moody, explaining that she admires Erica’s work and that “her combination of craft, minimalism, and function is something to behold.”
Wu has since incorporated elements that she learned from both instructors into her teaching at MassArt. She says that as “a female person of color, representation tremendously matters to me so I seek out educational opportunities from other women and people of color to learn from, and mentor as well.”
