Organizers: North Bennet Street School, The Wooden Artifacts Group of The American Institute of Conservation & The Chairmaker’s Toolbox
Full tuition, free housing, and a travel and living stipend. Applications for this opportunity are now closed.
This two-week woodworking program will provide emerging conservators who identify as historically marginalized from the fields of woodworking and/or art conservation with the knowledge and confidence to apply woodworking skills to augment conservation benchwork applications across a variety of specialties. Historically marginalized identities may include but are not limited to, those who identify as BIPOC, gender-nonconforming, and/or female.
In this program, participants will learn about joinery, woodshop safety, use and care of hand tools, and use of woodworking machines, among other introductory topics, and be able to apply that knowledge to the characteristics of wood and wood movement, patterns of deterioration, and other principles integral to the conservation of wooden artifacts. A solid foundation in the most essential woodworking skills will be developed through various exercises and the completion of a small woodworking project.
Evening and weekend opportunities will be available to participants in the form of field trips (lumberyard, conservation lab) and guest lectures by leaders in woodworking and conservation. This program aims to lower barriers to accessing a career in wooden artifacts conservation while building a cohort of fellow conservation professionals who can support one another through this program and beyond.
Tools & Supplies: All tools and supplies will be provided for this program.
Who Should Apply: All applicants must be an emerging art conservator, which includes pre-program, current undergraduate or graduate student, or post-graduate up to 5 years out from graduation. All applicants must identify as historically excluded in the field of woodworking and/or art conservation.
No previous experience with woodworking is necessary, and beginners are encouraged to apply. Applicants should specify in their application how woodworking skills will benefit their chosen specialization within conservation (i.e. furniture, objects, paintings, etc.) and/or help them explore new areas of interest (if specialty is undecided).