News Release

FW@XXX Celebrates Three Decades of Fine Woodworking at Bucks

Exhibition through December 16 features a variety of works by nine distinguished alumni at the Hicks Art Center Gallery

Three decades of fine woodworking education and craftsmanship are on display at the Hicks Art Center Gallery in “FW@XXX: Fine Woodworking at Thirty.”  The exhibition, curated by award-winning professor Mark Sfirri, features the works of nine accomplished alumni through December 16.

“Creative design and a high standard of craftsmanship are stressed in our program,” noted Sfirri, who was recently named 2010 Distinguished Educator Award Honoree of the James Renwick Alliance. “This work is evidence that these alumni have embraced those principles.”

Sfirri cites, for example, Joanne Shima’s Child’s Chair (pictured, left).  “This combination of large-scale Tinkertoy elements and Oreo cookies (with bites taken out) is a blend of engineering and humor that earned her high honors early in her career.  Two of these chairs are part of the permanent collections of museums at Yale University and the Smithsonian.”

A stool by Douglas Finkel similar to the one in this exhibit (pictured, right) is in the Renwick collection at the Smithsonian as well, Sfirri noted.  “To have work selected for a museum’s permanent collection is the ultimate affirmation, and these institutions are among the most prestigious.” 

In addition to Shima and Finkel, “FW@XXX” features works by Jake Antonelli, Ken Burton, George Dubinsky, Douglas W. Jones, BrianPaul Kolakowski, Ward Stevens, and Bill Stowe. Several of these alumni have gone on to teach at universities and colleges across the U.S., while others have set up their own woodshops and are making furniture.

Admission is free and open to the public.  The Hicks Art Center Gallery is located on the campus at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa. Gallery hours are Mon. and Fri., 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Tue., Wed., & Thu., 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.;  and Sat. 9 – noon. For more information, visit www.bucks.edu/gallery or call 215-504-8531.