What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

Home
United States
Rockport, ME
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

Dedicated to providing the best possible education in wood craftsmanship and design.
(1)

The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship offers six distinct educational programs in woodworking and furniture making: one and two-week Workshops, twelve-week Furniture Intensives, an eight-week Turning Intensive, a Nine-month Comprehensive, Studio Fellowships, and Community Classes.

09/02/2026

After graduating with a BFA this spring, Izzy McRoberts (Izzy McRoberts) completed a 12–week Assistantship at CFC this summer! They helped students and instructors during sessions of Basic Woodworking, Authentic Casework, More Metal for Woodworkers, Intro to Ornamental Carving, Drawer Making, and more.

We asked Izzy to share some of their background, knowledge, and takeaways to provide prospective Assistants with a firsthand account of how the program can support their woodworking goals. Link in bio for more!

🔹How did you find out about Assistantships at CFC?

IM: My professor Annie Evelyn (Annie Evelyn) often mentioned CFC. A visiting instructor + CFC Alum, Dotan Appelbaum (Dotan Appelbaum), came in 2025 to teach woodworking classes alongside Annie, and he allowed me to be his TA for a Marquetry and Veneering class. I learned that he had gotten his start in woodworking in CFC’s Nine-month Comprehensive. I checked out open applications on CFC’s website and thought that being a Summer Workshop Assistant sounded perfect.

🔹How was your experience as a 2026 Workshop Assistant?

IM: I had a wonderful time at CFC this summer! I was there for 12 weeks. One of the best parts was asking students and instructors about how they work in real time, why they use certain techniques, while also offering my expertise for people who needed support in the classroom. I was present for all the same instructional demos as the students—meaning I got to learn a ton from the visiting instructors who come from all over the world. Many times I learned about woodworking techniques, practices, or histories I never even knew existed. At CFC, I made lifelong friends and found a place in the talented community of craftspeople that come to midcoast Maine. I got everything I wanted and more out of the position.

🔹Did you get to make your own work this summer as well?

IM: Yes, after hours or during downtime, I worked on my own projects. (…) I’ve been working on a carved shelf with bandsaw box drawers holding different carved items. I use a lot of human imagery in my practice and enjoy making pieces that combine sculpture and function through the language of furniture.

08/27/2026

Max Brosi (Max Brosi) joined us from across the pond for two weeks of turning at Woodschool! While teaching two Workshops, he shared his extensive experience and encouraged students to grow their technical abilities while exploring new ways of crafting turned objects.

In The Turned Vessel: Form, Texture, Material—students each created multiple vessels that varied in form and texture, paying extra attention to proportion and scale; hollowing to appropriate wall thickness; practicing with carving gouges; and charring or painting to create a finished product.

In Multi-Axis Turning, students crafted a series of pieces turned on multiple axes, beginning with simple forms that grew in complexity with each iteration. Students got comfortable with mounting and turning smaller pieces to gain the experience necessary to tackle their larger, complex project by week’s end.

Interested in turning? Check out our upcoming Turning Intensive, running from January–March, 2027, at the link in bio!

08/26/2026

New Work by Faculty closes in two weeks! The exhibition is on view through September 9, 2026—and if you love chairs, this is the exhibition for you!

Chair Images In Order:

1: Brettstuhl, 2026 by Charles Thompson Charles Thompson (Colrain, MA)

2 + 3: Rubato, 2025 by Yuri Kobayashi Yuri Kobayashi (Thomaston, ME)

4 + 5: Rockport Chair by Peter Korn (Rockland, ME)

6: Crane Chair, 2014 by John Cameron John Cameron (Gloucester, MA)

7: Zen Round Back Chair, 2015 by Tak Yoshino 吉野崇裕 (Fujikawaguchiko, Japan)

8: A Daily Chair, 2026 by Rob Chamberlin Robert Chamberlin (Kalamazoo, MI)

9: Fjoon Captain’s Chair, 2026 by Aaron Johnson American Woodworker (Bend, OR)

10: All chairs on view in the Messler Gallery.

The 24 woodworkers, designers, and artists represented in New Work by Faculty are leaders in the fields of furniture making, design, wood turning, marquetry, and metalwork—and, they all teach here at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.

Visit woodschool.org to learn more about the exhibition, as well as our courses and programs.

08/25/2026

Join the Turning Intensive to spend 8 dedicated weeks here at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship learning all facets of woodturning: tool making, sharpening, milling, production woodturning, bowl turning, creative woodturning, and much more.

Follow Lead Instructor Beth Ireland (Beth Ireland) as she walks students through a series of projects that develop foundational skills and encourage exploration and craftsmanship. Beth will be joined by Visiting Instructors Kristin LeVier (Kristin LeVier, Artist) and Ken Wise (Ken Wise) for two projects in the curriculum.

The Turning Intensive is open to dedicated amateur woodworkers or aspiring professionals who want to take their work to the next level. Visit the link in bio or woodschool.org to learn more, and call 207-594-5611 to sign up today!

08/21/2026

Furniture Intensive students are currently rounding out their three months of study with the curves segment! Co-instructor Yuri Kobayashi (.k.curio) is walking them through multiple exercises in steam bending, bent lamination, coopering and more as they incorporate curves into their own work.

Here you’ll see Karen practicing cove cutting, a few coopered vessels by Samuel, a child’s chair by Joel, and Yuri handing out steamed strips for bending.

Interested in learning more about the 12 Week Furniture Intensive? We offer three sessions per year! Visit woodschool.org to learn more.

08/20/2026

Interested in a funded Fellowship? Apply for an Endowed Fellowship before September 1st get priority consideration!

CFC’s Fellowship program provides emerging and established furniture makers, carvers, and turners with the time, space, and resources to develop their craft. Fellows build new skills, conduct research, craft ambitious pieces, or explore a fresh approach to their established woodworking practice.

The Endowed Fellowship provides free shop space on our campus, plus a stipend of $400/week for up to 12 weeks. After the priority deadline, applications are considered on a rolling basis as space allows.

We also offer Studio Fellowships, which provides similar offerings without a stipend and with more time flexibility. Studio Fellows can hold a bench in our Fellowship building for up to one year. We accept those applications on a rolling basis, with positions awarded as vacancies arise.

Read more and apply: https://woodschool.org/courses-programs/fellowships/

Image: Robinson Yost, Endowed Fellow 2026

08/19/2026

Last Friday, Advanced Furniture Studio concluded after three weeks of incredibly hard work 💪

Instructors Adrian Ferrazzutti (Adrian Ferrazzutti) and Owain Harris (Owain Harris) guided students in an open studio format to craft ambitious, original designs. Projects ranged from chairs, tables, benches, cabinets, and more—all with a myriad of unique elements.

A few highlights include:

-an organically-shaped host stand for an Atlanta-based restaurant

-art nouveau-inspired inlay in walnut for the top of a writing desk

-one student designing and building their first chair

-curves galore! a curved mirror, side table, bench, and legs for a desk

-two student-made tambour doors, one ~4” tall and the other...30” tall (!!)

Congrats, students!

08/18/2026

This summer, two CFC Alums—Robert Sukrachand (Robert Sukrachand) and Christopher Merchant (Chris Merchant)—launched the DIN Collection: a collaboration between Merchant’s ceramic practice and Sukrachand’s design business, PERN BAAN.

How did they both go from woodworking at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, to where they are now? Visit the link in bio to read the full interview.

——

🔹When did you first come to CFC?

RS: I did the 12-week Furniture Intensive about 15 years ago, and (then came back to) CFC to teach a few Workshops, about 5 years later.

CM: Yes, you were teaching a Workshop when I was at CFC in the Nine-month Comprehensive, in 2018–2019. I saw your slide presentation, and it was really inspiring to see your work and how integrated you were in the New York design scene.

——

🔹You just launched the DIN Collection this summer! How did you go about collaborating?

RS: The nature of the work that we do at Pern Baan is to connect craft and design from the U.S. and Thailand. (...) DIN means earth or clay in Thai. Chris works creating ceramic extrusions, so here we’re translating his work through a different process called slip casting.

——

🔹Can you talk about making the transition from woodworking to an interdisciplinary design practice?

CM: I came out of my time at CFC hungry to keep learning, but open-minded in direction. When I moved to New York, my first job was for a small lighting studio and then moved to an ops job at another company. I also got into ceramics, in a self-taught capacity. (…) Now, I have an in-house collection and I work as a designer for a few companies, on a royalties basis. (...) I’d say I learned the possibilities of an interdisciplinary skillset in Maine, as many people do many jobs there.

——

🔹It sounds like you both pivoted to remain in the design industry. Did CFC prepare you for that?

RS: We all go to CFC because we want to make things. (…) I’m very lucky to have those years under my belt, and to be at the point of running a business. I’ve learned that there’s so many other elements that go into making design work.

CM: (…) There’s always a secret job behind the job you imagine.

——

08/13/2026

We’re halfway through the 2026 Workshop season! So far this summer, we’ve had over 180 students on campus across 15 Workshops—and there’s many more to go!

Workshops started selling out in record time this year, so we wanted to share how best to plan for joining us in 2027.

——

How Workshops Work:

🌱 CFC Workshops run from June through October.

🌊 Workshops are 1 to 3-week courses tailored around our warmer season, so visitors can come learn and hone their woodworking skills in the beauty of midcoast Maine.

🪚 Anyone 18 and over are welcome! Courses specify the skill level needed to participate, some are open to all skill levels, and others require some prior woodworking experience.

——

How to Explore Courses and Sign Up:

📌 Each year in November, the upcoming Workshop schedule gets posted to our website and sent out in our newsletter. Courses include topics like Basic Woodworking, Veneering, Joinery, Turning, Carving, Advanced Casework, Upholstery, and much more.

📝 Registration for the following year’s Workshops opens on December 15! We announce this on social media and through our email newsletter. Sign up for our E-News today at the link in bio, so you can stay in the loop.

☎️ We do ALL registration over the phone, the old school Maine way. This is so we can talk through details with each student, one-on-one. You can learn more about registration and payments on the Registration Information page on our site.

⏳ The best way to secure your spot for a Workshop to sign up early! And if a class is full, definitely get on the waitlist — we often have spaces open as students’ plans change and go to the waitlists to fill the spots.

——

Questions? Our Student Services team is here to help. Email [email protected] or call 207-594-5611 during business hours for more support.

08/06/2026

Furniture Intensive students are two months deep into their session! Lead Instructor Libby Schrum has shown them the ropes from the basics of sharpening, lumber selection, milling, and joinery through their 6-week casepiece projects. For their final four weeks, Yuri Kobayashi is joining to teach them all about curvature. More on that soon, can’t wait to share some of their final pieces!

Address

25 Mill Street
Rockport, ME
04856

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+12075945611

Website

http://www.woodschool.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Center for Furniture Craftsmanship posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Rockport?