The Furniture Society
The Furniture Society, founded in 1996, is a membership-based, tax-exempt 501 nonprofit corporation working to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering understanding of this art. The Society, based in Asheville, North Carolina, has an international membership comprising furniture makers, designers, educators, museum and gallery professionals, scholars, journalists, collectors, students and the interested public.
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
- San Francisco, California
- Smithville, Tennessee
- Toronto, Ontario
- Tempe, Arizona
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Savannah, Georgia
- San Diego, California
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Victoria, British Columbia
- SUNY Purchase
- Boone, North Carolina
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Portland, Maine
- Los Angeles, California
- Port Townsend, Washington
- Durham, North Carolina
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Kansas City, Missouri
- San Francisco, California
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Exhibitions
- Multiplicity: The art of the Furniture Prototype
- Show Us Your Drawers
- Curv-iture
- The Maker's Hand
- Cabinets of Curiosities
- WilsonArt Invitational
- The Right Stuff
- The Circle Unbroken
- Contemporary North American Furniture
The Award of Distinction
The award is presented each year as a major event during the annual conference. Past recipients of the award include:
| Year | Name | Notes | Ref. |
| 2001 | Arthur Espenet Carpenter Wendell Castle Tage Frid James Krenov Sam Maloof | ||
| 2002 | John Makepeace Jere Osgood Alan Peters | ||
| 2003 | Jonathan Leo Fairbanks William Keyser | ||
| 2004 | Garry Knox Bennett | ||
| 2005 | Judy Kensley McKie | ||
| 2006 | Tommy Simpson | ||
| 2007 | Michael Fortune | ||
| 2008 | Wendy Maruyama Walker Weed | ||
| 2009 | Vladimir Kagan | ||
| 2010 | John Cederquist | ||
| 2012 | Rosanne Somerson | ||
| 2014 | Bebe Johnson Warren Johnson | awarded jointly as Pritam & Eames | |
| 2015 | Thomas Hucker | ||
| 2016 | Edward S. Cooke | ||
| 2018 | Craig Nutt | ||
| 2019 | Tom Loeser | ||
| 2020 | Kristina Madsen |
History
The Awards were first presented in 2001, at the annual Furniture Society conference held that year in Tempe, Arizona. Five craftsmen were honored simultaneously in the first presentation, in order to make up for time lost in planning and funding the awards and to insure that these five iconic figures in furniture making and education were properly recognized in their lifetimes. One of the initial honorees, Tage Frid, was unable to attend the ceremony due to health issues and died several months later. Three of the other initial honorees—Art Carpenter, Sam Maloof and James Krenov are now deceased.Although the Award of Distinction has most often been presented to furniture makers and educators, anyone who has made significant contributions to the field of studio furniture can be considered. In 2003, for example, one of the honorees was furniture historian and curator Jonathan Fairbanks