I traveled up to Main this week to shoot pictures of Shaker furniture at Sabbathday Shaker Village, timing my trip for the opening of Regeneration: Fine Woodworkers Under 30, at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport. I had never been to the school before, but I’ve met its founder and director, Peter Korn, many times and already had a wonderful impression of his school. I left even more impressed. Peter has put together a wonderful woodworking campus, with separate, beautifully outfitted buildings for his short-term workshops, nine-month intensives, and special fellowships, which allow talented artists the time and space to collaborate or explore new avenues on their own. There is also a serious gallery on campus, with a wide variety of shows each year, many based on the work of the CFC’s hundreds of students and dozens of faculty members.

I took the time to snoop into every building, and saw great work happening in each one, and a wonderful spririt of comraderie between everyone from weekend warriors to acclaimed artists, many taking the time to tell me how happy they were with their experience at CFC. So I highly recommend this school, whether you plan on going pro or are an amateur, like me, who wants to take his or her skills to the highest level.

Peter called me last year with the idea for Regeneration, and I was all for it. We publicized it in the magazine, and Peter lined up the sponsors, who ended up paying $18,000 to cover all the shipping involved! And manufacturers like Powermatic/Jet, Festool, and others lined up to offer many thousands of dollars more in high-end tools and machinery for the winners.

Woodworkers as a whole are getting greyer by the minute, so I must admit I was suprised when 400 entries rolled in, from 250 woodworkers. It was very tough to get by the jury and make it into the actual exhibit, and the show I saw in the Messler Gallery last night was one of the best I’ve seen. It’s deeply gratifying to see younger men and women with so much talent and passion for the craft.

We’ll feature a number of the winners in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Launch Gallery