Respect Your Alders
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Annual Fine Furniture Graduating Student Exhibition
June 17-26, 2011 at Collective Works Gallery, 1311 Gladstone Avenue, Victoria
June 9, 2011
After ten intense and creative months, 16 students are about to graduate from Camosun College with a certificate in Fine Furniture and Joinery. And now they’re laying it on the line with their end-of-year exhibit, showcasing their final projects and submitting their creations to critical judgment by industry experts.
Each student was challenged to design and manufacture an artistic piece of furniture, using western red alder milled and kiln-dried by the Paulcan mill in Chemainus, BC and donated by the Vancouver Island Woodworkers’ Guild. “For years, alder has been considered a weed by the forestry industry,” says Cam Russell, chair of architectural trades at Camosun College. “The exhibition’s title is Respect your Alders, highlighting the idea that we can make something valuable out of a locally available wood formerly thought to be valueless.”
The finished chair must be designed to meet standard shipping size requirements. If the assembled project is too large, it must be designed and constructed so that it can be shipped in parts and easily assembled once delivered.
"It's important for our students to know how their new skills can work for them in the real world," says Ken Guenter, instructor in the fine furniture program. "There is a viable global market for made-in-Victoria furniture designs."
The student projects will be judged by a panel experienced in the furniture industry: local designer J.C. Scott; Ross Taylor, owner of Gabriel Ross Furniture; and Steve Guan, owner of Fine Line Creations and a 2009 Fine Furniture grad. Judging takes place at the Collective Works Gallery from 1-3pm on Friday, June 17, and the winner will be announced later that evening when the exhibit opens at 7pm, where the Woodworker's Guild will present the winner with a $500 cash prize.
The exhibit will continue for public viewing through to June 26. Collective Works Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, 12-6pm.
Contact
Cam Russell, Chair,
Architectural Trades, Camosun College
250–370–3803
russellc@camosun.bc.ca
Last updated: June 9, 2011 9:08 am
