Student work shines at Maines Messler Gallery

"Current Student Work,” featuring pieces made by participants in the nine-month program at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, was held April 15 through May 25 at the school’s Messler Gallery in Rockport, Maine.

“It never ceases to amaze me how bold students can be,” center executive director Peter Korn says. “They jump right into a project that a seasoned pro would shy away from, sometimes with alarming success.”

Students range in age from 25 to 60 and come from backgrounds as varied as industrial design, health care, theater and the military.

Featured students included Jose Ramon Diaz Oldemburg of Weston, Fla.; Marc Foose of San Rafeal, Calif.; Yorgo Liapis of Toronto; Heide Martin of Seattle; Andy Messa of Rockport, Maine; Tom Pluzycki of Chicago; Jeremy Porter of Wellington, New Zealand; Brendan Yi-Fu Tay of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Bruce Willey of Nashville, Tenn.; Jacob Wilson of Philadelphia, and Devin Yaeger of Creamridge, N.J.

The center is a nonprofit school offering courses in furniture making and related arts such as carving and woodturning.

To view more of the students’ work, visit www.woodschool.org.

Hudson hewn

The Hudson Valley’s tradition of furniture making is celebrated at an exhibition in Garrison, N.Y. “Hudson Hewn: New York Furniture Now” opened in April and runs through Aug. 14 at the Boscobel House and Gardens.

The mansion has an extraordinary collection of furniture made in New York between 1800 and 1820 by Duncan Phyfe and his contemporaries.

The exhibition features studio furniture by Empire State makers as well as period interiors throughout the 1804-08 mansion.

Featured artists and designers include Atlas Industries (Newburgh), Dzierlenga Furniture (Staatsburg), Fern Handcrafted Furniture (Hudson), Rob Hare (Ulster Park), Asher Israelow (Brooklyn and Hudson), Jeff Johnson (Poughkeepsie), Christopher Kurtz (Kingston), Mike Leggett (Woodstock), Moran Woodworked Furniture (Gallatin), David R. Morton (Tuxedo Park and Kingston), Samuel Moyer (Salt Point), Pacama Handmade (Kingston), Michael Puryear (Shokan) and Michael Robbins (Philmont).

Curator Jennifer Carlquist says she has been eager to draw attention to Boscobel’s permanent collection and connect it to living artists and designers. “Contemporary furniture can inform our understanding of antiques and vice versa. I am thrilled to share with our visitors new furniture forms that visibly relate to Boscobel’s collection and represent the exciting renaissance of Hudson Valley craftsmanship,” she says.