September 17 – November 24, 2010
Furniture Masters of New Hampshire is a joint project of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association, headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. While the primary mission of each institution differs—the former is a professional trade association and the latter is a nonprofit school—their core values are the same: both organizations strive to advance the craft of furniture making at the highest standard of excellence.
The New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association (NHFMA) was founded in 1995 as a means of perpetuating New Hampshire’s fine furniture making tradition. Today it counts a membership of more than 20 leading furniture makers, including several from the neighboring states of Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts. The work selected for the Messler Gallery show reveals the breadth of stylistic interests among the masters, ranging from interpretations of Early American, Shaker, and Neo-Classical periods to original contemporary designs. Participating furniture makers include: Ted Blachly (Warner, New Hampshire ), Aurelio Bolognesi (Hardwick, MA), John Cameron (Gloucester, MA), Jeffrey Cooper (Portsmouth, NH), Garrett Hack (Thetford Center, VT), Howard Hatch (Brunswick, ME), David Lamb (Canterbury, NH), David S. Leach (Kittery, ME), Tom McLaughlin (Canterbury, NH), Terry Moore (Wilmot, NH), Richard Oedel (Boston, MA), Brian Reid (Rockland, ME), Jeff Roberts (Unity, NH), Brian Sargent (Candia, NH), William Thomas (Rindge, NH), Peter Turner (South Portland), A. Thomas Walsh (West Stockbridge, MA), and Leah Woods (Portsmouth, NH).
