September 25, 2015 – January 6, 2016
“Contemporary Wood Design,” a national exhibition showcasing a new generation of furniture makers, opened at the Messler Gallery of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport on Friday, September 25, 2015.
“Every generation brings fresh perspectives to the fabrication of the shared world,” says Center director Peter Korn. “The aesthetics, materials, methods of production, and intended audiences in “Contemporary Wood Design” reveal a greater sense of social connection and an engagement with commerce that would have been foreign to most craftspeople of my era.”
The exhibition was co-curated by Diana Budds, formerly senior editor at Dwell, and Asher Dunn, founder of StudioDunn in Providence, RI. A young furniture designer himself, Dunn notes that success today requires an arsenal of skills in addition to craftsmanship. “You have to stay on top of continually changing disciplines and trends in design, entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, and much more.”
Designers represented in “Contemporary Wood Design” include: Asher Israelow (Brooklyn, NY), Chelsea Miller Knives (Brooklyn, NY), Christopher Specce (Providence, RI), Egg Collective (New York, NY), Fort Makers – designer Noah James Spencer (Brooklyn, NY), Fredericks & Mae (Brooklyn, NY), Grain Design (Bainbridge Island, WA), Heidi Earnshaw Design (Toronto, ON), Herman Miller – designer Leon Ransmeier (Zeeland, MI), Ian Stell (New York, NY), Jason Miller Studio (Brooklyn, NY), Michael Robbins (Germantown, NY), Moving Mountains (Brooklyn, NY), Pat Kim Designs (Brooklyn, NY), Phloem Studio (Portland, OR), Silvia Song (Berkeley, CA), Studio McKenzie-Veal (Chicago, IL), Such and Such (Cincinnati, OH), Vonnegut/Kraft (Brooklyn, NY), Woodsport (Minneapolis, MN), and Workstead (Brooklyn, NY).