Greenwood Chairmaking — FOREST/BODY/CHAIR
One Week Workshop
May 5 - 11, 2024
Instructor: Gina Siepel
Skill Level: 1-3, All levels welcome
FOREST/BODY/CHAIR links the practice of greenwood chairmaking to forest ecology, climate change, human embodiment, and interspecies relationships. The workshop is centered on the process of constructing a simple greenwood chair, beginning with a log and working with hand tools. This process happens in conjunction with exploration and study of the forests of the Marlboro campus, and a focus on chair design and construction for the human body. We will integrate an exploration of natural history, embodiment, and dendrology with the practice of woodworking, in consideration of the life of the tree as an integral part of the woodworking process.
This workshop has an estimated Studio Materials Fee of $150.
Workshop classes are a chance to focus without the distractions of daily life, and to tap into the creative endeavors that sustain us all. The Marlboro Studio School welcomes students to stay on campus for the duration of their stay, and area residents are also invited to participate as commuting Day Students.
For additional details about fees & what to expect during a week-long workshop, please visit our workshop information page. Workshops are available to persons who are 21 years of age and older as of the date of their arrival on campus.
Click here to view our Terms & Conditions.
Skill levels: 1 - Beginner; 2 - Beginner/Intermediate; 3 - Intermediate; 4 - Intermediate/Advanced; 5 - Advanced
Instructor: Gina Siepel
Gina Siepel is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and woodworker, based in Greenfield MA (Pocumtuc land). Their artistic practice reflects an engagement with place, history, queer experience, and ecology, and their work integrates conceptual concerns and craftsmanship with a focus on wood as a natural and a cultural material. Gina’s works have been shown in museums and galleries nationally, including the Colby Museum, the DeCordova Museum, Vox Populi Gallery, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Marlboro College, and Amherst College. Gina has been a fellow or artist-in-residence at Skowhegan, Hewnoaks, the Winterthur Museum, the Vermont Studio Center, Sculpture Space, and Mildred’s Lane. She has received funding from the Berkshire Taconic Fund, the Puffin Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Gina holds a BFA from the School of Art + Design at SUNY Purchase and an MFA from the Maine College of Art, and has taught at Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, and in the Massachusetts College of Art and Design MFA programs. Gina is currently a MacLeish Field Station Artist-in-Residence at Smith College, and a 2023 recipient of a Teaching Artist Cohort Grant from the Center for Craft. Gina has studied the traditional craft of greenwood chairmaking with master chairmakers Eric Cannizzaro, Travis Curtis, and Chris Nassise.