Background
Built on a tradition of volunteerism, the Society provides a range of programs including annual conferences, exhibitions, publications, scholarships and awards of excellence. All programming is guided by the Society’s core values: opportunity, education, inspiration, community and contribution. Membership in the Furniture Society is open to all who have an interest in furniture.Annual Conferences
The Society convenes an annual conference, in locations across the United States and in Canada, usually in June. Each conference offers keynotes, artists’ presentations, practical demonstrations, theoretical discussions and business improvement seminars. Past venues have included: *Purchase, New York (1997) *San Francisco, California (1998) *Smithville, Tennessee (1999) *Toronto, Ontario (2000) *Tempe, Arizona (2001) *Madison, Wisconsin (2002) *Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2003) *Savannah, Georgia (2004) *San Diego, California (2005) *Indianapolis, Indiana (2006) *Victoria, British Columbia (2007) *SUNY Purchase (2008) *Boone, North Carolina (2009) *Cambridge, Massachusetts (2010) *Portland, Maine (2012) *Los Angeles, California (2013) *Port Townsend, Washington (2014) *Durham, North Carolina (2015) *Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2016) *Kansas City, Missouri (joint conference with theExhibitions
The Furniture Society has sponsored several major exhibitions of studio furniture. These include: *Multiplicity: The art of the Furniture Prototype (2008) *Show Us Your Drawers (2006) *Curv-iture (2004) *The Maker's Hand (2004, co-sponsored with The Museum of *Fine Art, Boston) *Cabinets of Curiosities (2003, co-sponsored with The Wood *Turning Center) *WilsonArt Invitational (2003, co-sponsored with WilsonArt) *The Right Stuff (2002) *The Circle Unbroken (1999) *Contemporary North American Furniture (1997—invitational)The Award of Distinction
The Award of Distinction is conferred annually by The Furniture Society upon one or more living individuals who are recognized as having had a profound impact on the field of studio furniture. The honorees exemplify lives devoted to study, work, and craft, as well as the education of others in the field. The award is presented each year as a major event during the annual conference. Past recipients of the award include:History
The Awards were first presented in 2001, at the annual Furniture Society conference held that year in Tempe,Publications
Five biennial journals on Studio Furniture have been published by the Furniture Society: Furniture Studio: The Heart of the Functional Arts, 1999 Furniture Studio: Tradition in Contemporary Furniture, 2001 Furniture Studio: Furniture Makers Exploring Digital Technologies, 2005 Furniture Studio: Focus on Materials, 2006 and Furniture Studio: The Meaning of Craft, 2007 These volumes offer essays on design, fabrication and history as well as a pictorial gallery of the finest work made from the 1990s on. The Society also publishes catalogs to accompany the major exhibitions of furniture that it has initiated or co-sponsored with leading institutions, and a quarterly print newsletter, ''Furniture Matters''. Recent Furniture Society publications also include The Maker's Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940-1990 (168 pages, illustrated), 2003 from the Museum of Fine Arts Publications, Mind & Hand: Contemporary Studio Furniture (160 pages, illustrated), 2012 and Rooted: Creating a Sense of Place: Contemporary Studio Furniture (160 pages, illustrated), 2015, both fromSee also
* Chippendale Society *External links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furniture Society Furniture Decorative arts Charities based in North Carolina