PARKERSBURG, W. VA. (November 2019) As part of its corporate focus on woodworking education, Woodcraft Supply has decided to support The Krenov Foundation Scholarship Program for the school that internationally acclaimed author, teacher and cabinetmaker James Krenov founded in 1981.

The Krenov Foundation, established in 2014, awards several substantial scholarships each year to students attending The Krenov School, supports fine furniture shows, and has begun digitizing images of Krenov’s work. Visit this link to learn more.

“Woodcraft welcomes the opportunity to help students who wish to pursue a fine woodworking education at The Krenov School, an institution that continues to pursue excellence in woodworking instruction that reflects James Krenov’s legacy,” President and CEO Jack Bigger said.

After Krenov died on Sept. 9, 2009, the Times of London online included a lengthy review of his life that began: “In outline, James Krenov’s cabinets are conventional. It is in the way in which they display a creator in total harmony with his raw material – wood in all its vitality and variety – that they are extraordinary,” followed by praise for his attention to the details of the wood used, as well as the joinery.

Despite a period of financial hardship, Krenov refused to cut corners in his cabinetmaking, reflecting a passion for excellence that led to writing five books, teaching and awards. When he was asked to start the Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods, in Fort Bragg, California, in 1981, he was famous in his field. For the next 21 years, he taught hundreds of students from around the world while continuing to build furniture.

Krenov wrote the following as part of an introduction to students in 1997: “We hope that in viewing what we are offering here, you will pay attention to the details, notice the results, and come to realize that if one cares enough, if one pays enough attention to the richness of wood, to the tools, to the marvel of one’s own hands and eye, all these things come together so that a person’s work becomes that person; that person’s message.”

To learn more about Krenov, visit this link.

In 2016, Mendocino College took over the administration of Krenov’s program, which is now The Krenov School, but is still located in Fort Bragg, California. The intense nine-month fine woodworking program open to 23 students at a time, is six days a week, eight hours a day and divided into two semesters. Some students opt to go second year for more advanced instruction. Although machinery is used at the school, the focus is on teaching students to use hand tools and learn to design and execute a project on their own.

The Krenov Foundation will accept scholarship applications for The Krenov School’s 2020-2021 nine-month program from March 1 to March 31, 2020.

To learn more about Woodcraft, contact the store nearest you, visit woodcraft.com or call (800) 535-4482. To learn about Woodcraft franchise opportunities, visit woodcraftfranchise.com or email [email protected].

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Who is Woodcraft?
Woodcraft Supply, LLC, is one of the nation’s oldest and largest suppliers of quality woodworking tools, supplies, and plans. The Parkersburg, W.Va.-based company’s more than 20,000 products are sold at retail stores in over 70 major metropolitan areas across the U.S., through 1.5 million catalogs distributed annually in all 50 states and 117 countries, and online at woodcraft.com. All products (except power tools) are backed by our 90-Day Guarantee and the industry’s best customer service. (Power tools are subject only to the manufacturer’s warranties.) Woodcraft also offers educational opportunities through classes and demos at the stores, how-to videos and articles online, and project, technique and product features in Woodcraft Magazine, which publishes six issues annually. Follow Woodcraft on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and Woodworking Adventures, the company blog.