Applied Design :: Furniture Design & Woodworking
The Furniture Design/Woodworking program is part of the Applied Design emphasis in the Art major. Students are required to meet performance standards in both academic and studio-based courses. The goal of the Furniture Design/Woodworking program is to encourage and assist students in the development of a mature artistic statement based upon intellectual, aesthetic and technical capabilities in conjunction with their career goals. The curriculum is formulated to broaden understanding of the Woodworking field and its historical and contemporary context through research, experimentation, and reading on critical issues in art and design. Students are encouraged to explore cross-disciplinary work as well as take advantage of foreign study opportunities to reveal new perspectives. The diversity of work produced in the program is evidence of the multiplicity of concerns that can be addressed within the arena of Furniture Design/Woodworking.
The program has enjoyed an impressive roster of visiting artists, which include many prominent furniture makers and sculptors, such as Roseanne Somerson, Michael Hurwitz, Tom Loeser, Gail Fredell, Robert Brady, John Cederquist, Dakota Jackson, Albert Paley, Kimberly Kelzer, Bob Trotman, Fabianne Garcia, Andy Buck, Yuko Shimizu, Roy Christopher, Tom Hucker, and Garry Knox Bennett.
Please visit the Furniture Design & Woodworking web site at:http://art.sdsu.edu/furniture
| Undergraduate Program | Graduate Program |
| Area Facilities | Faculty Bios |
| Student Gallery | Faculty Gallery |
Undergraduate Program
While the core of the undergraduate curriculum is based on traditional woodworking and furniture making, it also emphasizes the development of ideas and designs that parallel current issues in art and design. Technique, innovation and experimentation are areas that are stressed equally. The teaching format is based on lectures, demonstrations, and slide presentations by faculty and visiting artists. While furniture design is the main focus for the program, other approaches are also welcomed and encouraged. In addition, designing furniture and/or sculpture using non-conventional materials such as steel, glass, paper, concrete and found objects is explored. The School of Art’s structure is such that it allows cross-disciplinary work between different studios; a furniture student can easily work with disciplines in photography, sculpture, painting, among other programs within the School. A variety of processes for Woodworking and non-Woodworking materials are presented while exploring the content of art and studying contemporary aesthetic form and its historical antecedents. Course work places equal emphasis on creative problem solving and technical proficiency. The studio facility supports work in carving, joinery as related to linear design and case construction, plywood and veneer work, latheturning and finishing. Eligible students can take independent studies in an area of particular interest as well as pursue opportunities for foreign exchange study.
Click here for the Furniture Design (Applied Design) Checklist (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Graduate Program
The three-year MFA graduate program is a 60-unit course of study in studio, art history, and professional practice. Students are expected to research and develop visual ideas according to their personal interests and establish an informed historical/theoretical framework for their art. Technical support and facilities are provided to enable access to the broadest range of materials and processes. Each semester a required graduate seminar in Furniture Design and woodworking is offered which is formulated to meet the particular needs of the students enrolled.
All graduate students are given some short-term assignments that are done as a group to explore a specific idea and to reveal individual approaches to a theme. These themes almost never deal directly with furniture so as to encourage our students to think outside the norms. Graduate students work independently and are given a suggested program to best suit their needs and interests. In addition to the courses in their major, they also take elective courses in other studios, 12 units of art history, and 6 units of departmental seminars which involve graduates from all studio emphasis areas. The thesis project is begun in the final year and culminates in a Masters of Fine Arts Thesis exhibition, which consists of a one-person exhibition in one of the two galleries that are available within the department. The thesis project also consists of an oral review by departmental faculty and a written project report which documents the development of the work.
At the end of the second year students go through an Advancement to Candidacy Review to determine their readiness to begin a final body of work. The thesis project is begun in the final year and culminates in a solo exhibition, oral review by the school faculty and a written project report, which documents the development of the work. Students are encouraged to look at a wide range of possibilities for professions within the field. Past graduates of the MFA program have pursued many models of practice and are among the well-known studio Furniture makers, designers, gallery owners, and university faculty throughout the U.S. and abroad.
New students are admitted into the program only in the fall semester on a space available basis. Application deadline is February 1. The School of Art offers both graduate assistantships and teaching assistantships, as well as work study opportunities to those who qualify. Out-of-state students are eligible for low-cost, in-state tuition after a one-year residency. Information about financial aid may be obtained upon request from the SDSU financial aid office.
Students are expected to enter appropriate regional, national, and international competitions, as well as seek representation of work in galleries.
Click here for more information on SDSU Studio Art Graduate Programs.
Distinguished Alumni
Past graduates of the MFA program in Furniture Design and Woodworking have successfully pursued a wide range of professions, especially in education and as studio artists. They have become active in the field of furniture and art, and have contributed tremendously, not only to the field, but also to the reputation of the program here at San Diego State University .
Jo Stone, Head of Program and Professor of Art, University of New Hampshire
Russell Baldon, studio artist and Lecturer, California College of Arts and Crafts
Christopher Vance, studio artist and Lecturer, Laney College, Oakland CA
Gavin O'Grady, studio artist and Head of Program, Oregon School of Arts and Crafts
Cory Robinson, studio artist and Lecturer, Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Matt Hutton, studio artist and Lecturer, Maine College of Art
Lynn Szymanski, studio artist and Head of Program, Worcester Center for Crafts
Christine Enos, studio artist and Lecturer, Rhode Island School of Design
David Fobes, studio artist and Lecturer, Mesa College, San Diego
Yang Jun Kwon, studio artist and Assistant Professor, Kendall School of Art and Design
Katherine Ortega, studio artist, Winner of ACC Emerging Artist Grant
Duncan Gowdy, studio artist, Winner of ACC Emerging Artist Grant
Kelli Kadokawa, studio artist, Winner of ACC Emerging Artist Grant
Area Facilites
The Furniture Design/Woodworking studios are on the 2nd level of the North art building. The woodshop consists of a two separate bench rooms for undergraduate students and a spacious machine room. There is also a large studio for up to 14 graduate students. There is a tool storage area that is stocked with all the major hand tools and portable power tools that are shared by all the students. The fully equipped machine room consists of the following: radial armsaw, 2 table saws, 2 thickness planers, 2 large jointers, 2 horizontal slot mortisers, 3 bandsaws, drill presses, lathe, large disk sander, spindle sander, vacuum press, and grinding and sharpening machines.
Faculty Bios
Wendy Maruyama
Wendy Maruyama is Head of the Furniture Design/Woodworking program and has taught at SDSU since 1989. Prior to that she has headed programs at California College of Arts and Crafts and at the Appalachian Center for Crafts. She received her BA from San Diego State and MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has been the recipient of a Fulbright Grant to England, foreign travel grants to France and Japan, and four NEA Craftsmen's Fellowships. She also serves on several non-profit boards, including the Furniture Society and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. She is a frequent workshop leader and lecturer and her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. It is documented in numerous publications and included in public collections, among them the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, American Craft Museum, Oakland Museum, Mingei International Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Arizona State University Museum in Tempe.