1 Full Scholarship (Includes materials)

Class Title: Intro to Chair Making: Make a Milking Stool

Location: HatchSpace - Brattleboro, VT

Timing:
2 sessions: Sat/Sun, May 13 & 14 | 10am - 4:30pm | Class will break for a 1/2 hour lunch each day.

Teacher: Charles Thompson

Description:
Anyone looking for a way into making chairs or other staked furniture pieces can find one here: we'll make a stout three-legged stool using hand tools and techniques common in traditional chairmaking.

Learn. Students will first learn to make tapered legs from square stock using handplanes, and how to lay out rake and splay angles for the legs. Next we'll use those angles to drill and ream holes in the seat. Finally, we’ll hammer the seat and legs together with glue and wedges.

Make. Students will make a three-legged stool from pine and oak using hand tools.

Who should apply:
No woodworking experience required! All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials. Student will cover housing and travel.

Scholarship Class (Including materials)

Class Title: Build a Balloon Back Side Chair

Teacher: George Sawyer
Assistant(s): Eli Barlow

Location: Geroge Sawyer woodshop - Woodbury, VT

Timing: November 3-9, 2023

Application Deadline: May 1, 2023
Notification of Award: May 20, 2023

Description:
Participants will learn the fundamentals of green woodworking (working with wood that has not been kiln dried) to build their own balloon back Windsor chair using Dave Sawyer’s original chair design. All materials and tools are provided, and students leave the class with an assembled chair that will last a lifetime. In each class, attendees learn: traditional green woodworking techniques, splitting out logs and spindle shaving, seat carving with hand tools, steam bending, leg turning

Who should apply:
All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking and be actively pursuing a career in furniture making.

The scholarships covers tuition & housing & materials. Students will cover their own meals & the cost of travel to and from Woodbury, VT

1 Full Scholarship Seat (includes tuition & materials)

Class Title: Make a Jennie Chair

Teacher: Travis Curtis
Assistant(s): Application open (scroll for info)

Location: Lost Art Press, Covington KY

Timing: October 2-7, 2023

Application Deadline: May 15, 2023
Notification of Award: May 31, 2023

Description:
Learn how to build a Jennie chair – a form developed by Jennie Alexander from classic post-and-rung ladderbacks, and made famous in her book "Make a Chair from a Tree."

In this 5-1/2-day class, you'll learn to:
• Split, rive and hew green wood
• Use a drawknife to shape parts
• Steam bending
• Cut mortises by hand
• Understand wood moisture and movement
• Make bending forms and “dinguses” (a JA term)
• Chair assembly
• Weave a seat (materials provided for a split reed seat. Students can bring their own hickory bark (35-40 yards) if preferred).

Who should apply:
No prior experience needed. All applicants must identify as historically excluded or under-represented in the field of woodworking.

The scholarship covers only tuition and materials ($1500 value). Student must cover travel, housing & meals.

2 Full Scholarship Seats (Includes housing, food & materials)

Class Title: Build a Traditional Appalachian Ladderback Chair

Teacher: Reid Gamble
Assistant(s): Position Open - See application

Location: John C Campbell Folk School, Brasstown NC

Funding & Support: John C Campbell & The Chairmaker’s Toolbox

Timing: September 17-23, 2023

Application Deadline: May 1, 2023
Notification of award: May 15, 2023

Description:
Construct a red oak ladderback chair frame, circa 1860. We'll focus on post-and-rung construction and wet and dry joinery with mortise and tenon. All parts will be shaped on the shaving horse with a drawknife, spokeshave, hollow auger, and dowel pointer and assembly will include brace, bit, and mortise chisels. Explore the history of the trade and discuss green woodworking techniques. A demonstration of splint bottoming will help you finish your chair at home.

Who should apply:
No prior experience needed. All applicants must identify as historically excluded or under-represented in the field of woodworking. We are also looking for students who have a personal, professional, craft-based or biographical connection to Appalachia. Further questions / space for students to elaborate will be provided on the application

The scholarships cover ALL tuition, housing, meals & materials. Students will cover their own travel to and from the folk school

Assistantship (Includes payment, travel stipend, housing, food & materials)

Class Title: Build a Traditional Appalachian Ladderback Chair

Teacher: Reid Gamble

Location: John C Campbell Folk School, Brasstown NC

Funding & Support: John C Campbell & The Chairmaker’s Toolbox

Timing: September 17-23, 2023

Application Deadline: May 15, 2023
Notification of award: June 5, 2023

Position Description:
Position includes a $300 stipend, travel stipend, housing, meals, and materials.

Assistants will play a vital role in the day-to-day operations of the class, gaining insight into both the administrative and technical elements required to create a smooth teaching and learning experience for all students. Duties include tool maintenance, overseeing studio safety, and offering instructional support. In addition to the designated class times, studio assistants will often be required to work outside of class hours to ensure that the workspace and materials are prepared for all students, participating in the behind-the-scenes work that goes into preparing for and resetting after a workshop.

Assistants are often encouraged to make their own chair or project alongside the other students in the class and will receive studio access and materials for the duration of the class.

A CMT Assistantship has the additional lens of supporting our mission of engaging historically-excluded makers. This class includes 2 scholarship for students who identify as outsiders in the field of woodworking. We acknowledge that there are many ways to be an outsider in this field, including, but not limited to, identifying as BIPOC, female, queer, trans, non-binary, or working class. It is important to us that our educators reflect the identities of the students we are working with and that they are equipped to respond to the specific joys and challenges that may arise as a result of this added context. It is our goal to create a positive, encouraging, and safe studio environment. Learning is an emotionally vulnerable experience and we expect all of our assistants to understand this dynamic and be committed to supporting students while they develop new skills.

Class Description:
Construct a red oak ladderback chair frame, circa 1860. We'll focus on post-and-rung construction and wet and dry joinery with mortise and tenon. All parts will be shaped on the shaving horse with a drawknife, spokeshave, hollow auger, and dowel pointer and assembly will include brace, bit, and mortise chisels. Explore the history of the trade and discuss green woodworking techniques. A demonstration of splint bottoming will help you finish your chair at home.

Who should apply:
All applicants must be prepared to take on the responsibilities of the assistantship and identify as historically excluded or under-represented in the field of woodworking. We are also looking for students who have a personal, professional, craft-based or biographical connection to Appalachia. Further questions / space for students to elaborate will be provided on the application

The scholarships cover ALL tuition, housing, meals & materials. Students will cover their own travel to and from the folk school

1 Full Scholarship (Includes materials)

Class Title: Green Woodworking: Hand Carved Spoons

Location: HatchSpace - Brattleboro, VT

Timing: Saturday, June 17th | 10am - 5:30pm | Class will break for a 1/2 hour lunch.

Teacher: Charles Thompson

Description:

Learn the traditional art of green woodworking, using freshly harvested wood to create a one-of-a-kind spoon.

Learn. Use an axe and a knife to turn a branch into a spoon! You'll learn how to select good material, how to break that material down by hand using a carving axe, then how to shape and carve your spoon safely and decoratively, using a a Mora 106 knife and a hook knife.

Make. You'll make a one-of-a-kind spoon, beautifully carved using traditional hand tools.

What to Bring: Bring a bag lunch, or you may visit nearby downtown Brattleboro to purchase lunch. Students are welcome to bring their own sharp carving tools; knives should be comparable to the Mora 106 and Mora 164.

No woodworking experience required.

Who should apply: No woodworking experience required! All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials. Student will cover housing and travel.

Educator, Author and long-time chairmaker, Peter Galbert, has released an incredible video series on the process of Windsor chairmaking. He covers everything you need to know to make Windsor chairs from wood choice, to layout, to carving, to tool maintenance and so much more! The series retails for $99 and is well worth the cost, however, Pete is offering full scholarships to this deep-dive into chair making. We hope to support female, non-binary and BIPOC identifying students who could benefit from 30+ hours of video jam-packed with chairmaking knowledge. Fill out our opportunities application to apply.

A lighthearted but highly informative pamphlet that covers the essential processes & products necessary to build the “Simple Chair.” The handbook includes scaled plans for all chair parts, rough dimensions, an overview of wood selection and processing, a list of educational resources, recommended tools and more. Oh, and it comes with a sticker.

The Chairmaker’s Toolbox is looking to sponsor makers interested in producing one of the tools still missing from the Toolbox. We are still looking for a sledge hammer and wedge set, an adze, a scorp, custom curved card scrapers (preferred curve and info on blanks provided), specialty chairmaking jigs, more spokeshave profiles, specially ground drill bits, an aggressive travisher-style hand tool, an apartment-friendly shavehorse, a bevel-down drawknife and more!

Makers who are chosen for the project will be given mentorship, publicity, financial support for materials and infrastructure builds. They will each be paired with a professional chairmaker or toolmaker who will give essential dimensions, info on functionality, and personal feedback on each prototype. At this time we are looking to amplify the presence and efforts of tool makers who have been historically excluded from the field. If you think this could be you or someone you know, please contact us and share a little bit about yourself, your practice, any previous experience in toolmaker, and which tool(s) you are interested in developing.

Shave horses are at the heart of many Windsor chair processes, and Tim Manney has designed a simple, beautiful, and highly functional shave horse. *Plus* The materials can cost as little as $40 in lumber and hardware. The plans retail for $30 which is an incredible deal but Tim has offered free plans to a few lucky soon-to-be chairmakers. Please apply. If you would like to purchase the plans outright, you can do so here.

If you are interested, please apply through our contact page and include your name, contact info and a little bit about yourself and how this subscription would positively impact your practice. *Note* This scholarship is intended for people who identify as outsiders in the field of woodworking. Also, if you are able to pay full-price for a subscription to the magazine, please support FWW directly by subscribing.

Curtis Buchanan is a giant in the field of Windsor chair making and his plans are famous for their clarity, accuracy and “recipes” which help guide you through the process. Good chair plans are expensive and time consuming to produce which means they don’t come cheap. The Chairmaker’s Toolbox has a few copies for makers who would not otherwise be able to afford them. If you are an aspiring chairmaker who is struggling to afford plans, please apply here. Please include your name, contact info, and a little bit about yourself including a few sentences about what draws you to chairmaking. Check out the available plans here.

Know of another opportunity? Have a resource you'd like to share?

Scholarship Class (Includes materials)

Class Title: Build a Stick Chair

Teacher: Christopher Schwarz
Assistant: Aspen Golann

Location: Lost Art Press Store Front, Covington KY

Timing: September 18-22, 2023

Application Deadline: April 15th
Notification of Award: May 1st

Shop Lurker: Megan Fitzpatrick

Description:
This class is an introduction to building stick chairs – a vernacular form of furniture that has been around for centuries. Most stick chairs were built by amateur woodworkers or farmers who made chairs in the off-season. They were built with available materials and a small tool set. And unlike many formal furniture styles, such as Windsor chairs, stick chairs have far fewer rules and established forms. In fact, you are unlikely to ever find two identical stick chairs. This class is an introduction to building these chairs with a small kit of hand tools, a band saw and wood available from any lumberyard. Students will be provided with a wide variety of different chair patterns so they can personalize their chair by changing the undercarriage, rainbow, hands, sticks and comb.

Who should apply:
We have 2 spots for students who have some chair making experience and want to start learning to teach others, and 4 spots for students with little-to-no chair experience but who have some sort of active teaching practice (elementary school math, educational writing, podcasting, etc). So if you want to learn about chairs and want to teach others, please apply!

All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

Scholarship Class (Includes materials)

Class Title: Collaborative Design Workshop

Teacher: Peter Galbert
Assistants: Aspen Golann & Kelly Harris

Location: Peter Galbert Chairmaking Studio (Rollinsford, NH)

Timing: July 3-10, 2023

Application Deadline: April 1st
Notification of Award: April 20th

Description:
This class is a continuation of a workshop Peter Galbert taught to a small group of professional woodworkers in 2022. The inaugural class consisted of Audi Siosi, Sarah Watlington, Lacey Carnahan, Kelly Harris and Aspen Golann. Pete led the group through the process of designing a Windsor chair from scratch. It was wildly successful and we are going to offer it again this year. The original class will return and we are looking for two new chairmakers to join the crew.

This design class will focus on all aspect of creating a chair from concept drawings to models, mock ups , drafting and construction. The topics will range from material technology, ergonomics, structures, process and tooling. The class will choose two designs to push through the process. This is not a class to build and take home a chair, it’s to learn how a chair goes from concept to creation.

Who should apply:
Applicants needn’t be expert chair makers or even comfortable with the process of designing and building from scratch, but this class will skim over some of the basics of wood technology and safe machine use and so as to jump full force into designing and building. As such, this class is most appropriate for students who have experience woodworking, have likely already built a chair, and are now looking to learn how to design their own pieces.

All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers tuition, materials and provides a housing stipend. Student will cover their travel.

The Furniture Society, in partnership with the Chairmaker's Toolbox, presents a series of professional development programs during the month of April - Two programs per night, six programs total in 3 weeks!

April 11- From Getting Noticed to Representation: A Guide to Working With a Gallery with Sarah Mizer

April 18 - Bookkeeping + Taxes For Makers with Kristin Mitsu Shiga

April 25 - Designing and Pitching a Class with Annie Evelyn

Presentations - 6-7pm EDT
Workshops - 7:15-8:45pm EDT

Each Tuesday will offer a presentation on a specific topic followed by a workshop which includes in-depth information and take-homes to help advance your career and grow your business.

The Scholarship covers BOTH the presentation & the workshop. Please read about the workshops and choose which one (or ones) you’d like to attend.

Applications Due: April 5th

You can also choose to pay and register immediately here at The Furniture Society website. Please note that registration is separate for the presentation and the workshop

These scholarships are sponsored by:

The Schooner Foundation
& The Bresler Foundation

2 Half Scholarships (Includes materials)

Class Title: Contemporary Windsor Side Chair

Location: The Woodworking School at Pine Croft, Berea KY

Funding & Support: Berea College

Timing: Feb 27-March3, 2023

Application Deadline: January 25
Notification of award: January 30

Teacher: Aspen Golann

Assistant: Kelly Harris & Alexandra Mavrikis

Shop Support: Andy Glenn

Description: 2 Half Scholarships (Includes materials)

This class is an introduction to building Windsor chairs – a form of furniture that has been fashionable for centuries. This class is an introduction to building these chairs with a small kit of hand tools, a band saw and wood available from any lumberyard. Class discussions will cover chair design as well as a wide variety of approaches to chairmaking so that students are empowered to design and explore this craft outside of the classroom.

Who should apply: No prior experience needed. All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials. Student will cover housing and travel.

6 Full Scholarships (Includes materials)

Class Title: Contemporary Windsor Side Chair

Location: The Woodworking School at Pine Croft, Berea KY

Funding & Support: Berea College

Timing: March 6-March 10, 2023

Application Deadline: January 1
Notification of award: January 15

Teacher: Kelly Harris

Assistant(s): Aspen Golann & Alexandra Mavrikis

Shop Support: Andy Glenn

Description: 6 Full Scholarships (Includes materials)

This class is an introduction to building Windsor chairs – a form of furniture that has been fashionable for centuries. This class is an introduction to building these chairs with a small kit of hand tools, a band saw and wood available from any lumberyard. Class discussions will cover chair design as well as a wide variety of approaches to chairmaking so that students are empowered to design and explore this craft outside of the classroom.

Who should apply: No prior experience needed. All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials. Student will cover housing and travel.

1 Full Scholarship (Includes materials)

Class Title: Introduction to Windsor Chairs

Location: Austin School of Furniture, Austin TX

Timing: November 27th to December 3rd, 2022

Teacher: Aspen Golann

Description: This class is an introduction to building Windsor chairs – a form of furniture that has been fashionable for centuries. This class is an introduction to building these chairs with a small kit of hand tools, a band saw and wood available from any lumberyard. Class discussions will cover chair design as well as a wide variety of approaches to chairmaking so that students are empowered to design and explore this craft outside of the classroom.

Who should apply: Beginners welcome! All applicants must identify as historically excluded or outsiders in the field of woodworking.

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials. Student will cover housing and travel.

If you identify as a woman or Non-Gender Conforming the Florida School of Woodwork, Aspen Golann and The John D. Mineck Foundation in Partnership with the Society of Arts + Crafts are teaming up to offer two Scholarships to Twin Windsors: Intro to Chairmaking with Aspen Golann

Along with the Scholarships, the School is providing lodging in the form of a private room in a shared Airbnb house close to the School).

The scholarships covers all tuition and materials.

Building better support structures for our communities and our butts, one chair at a time

With Aspen Golann & Eleanor Rose at A Workshop of Our Own (Baltimore MD)

Jan 3-8, 2022

A class designed for first time chair makers and taught with a commitment to inclusivity, barrier breaking, hard conversations, and big love. In this class we will cover the essential techniques required to build a classic Windsor side chair, but we will also go over the surprisingly simple steps of creating your own designs. Whether you are new to woodworking or an experienced maker, Windsor chair making will deepen your appreciation for the strength and versatility of wood and the design tools you’ll practice in this class will give you the confidence to fabricate your own designs. Come make a chair with us!

More information about registration coming soon! Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions. In the meantime, check out the amazing online offerings at A Workshop of Our Own