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The New Hampshire Institute of Furniture Making
The New Hampshire Institute of Furniture Making (NHIFM) is the non-profit educational arm of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association (NHFMA).
NHIFM was established to promote the growth of fine furniture making through public education and Studio-Based Learning Programs and to preserve and extend three centuries of tradition in fine furniture making in New Hampshire.
To download an application to the Studio-Based Learning Program, click here.
The NHIFM Studio-Based Learning Program is a unique learning experience, both in terms of its design and each student's experience. Designed by each student working in conjunction with the Furniture Masters, the three-year curriculum acts as a guide for creating an individualized program comprised of actual time and study in the studios of New Hampshire Furniture Masters. The program strikes a healthy balance between flexibility for the individual student apprentice and mastery of requisite professional skills.
By working with Masters one-on-one, each student garners the opportunity for personalized instruction, together with the chance to view the inner workings of a real furniture business. The variety of styles that are represented by the Furniture Masters also offers students valuable, and eclectic, stylistic and skills-building experience.
The SBLP curriculum is structured around a three-year, full-time commitment consisting annually of three, 13-week trimesters, three days per week. The cost for a full-time trimester is $9,100; thus one year's tuition is $27,300 and the total cost for the 3-year program is $81,900.
This option describes the full cost of 3, full-time trimesters, but such a schedule may not be appropriate or necessary for each student. A great benefit of the Studio-Based Learning Program is that it can be customized to fit the needs of each individual. Through the application process, each student is evaluated based on his/her interview and portfolio. Recommendations are then made for a course of study and tuition is calculated accordingly. The cost of the program is determined by each student's course of study and is dependent on the number of days/weeks/trimesters that he/she is determined to need to complete the program successfully. Depending on a student's situation, such items as housing, tools and some materials may add to this cost. NHIFM is currently developing a scholarship program to assist deserving students.
In considering applicants, NHIFM looks for self-motivated individuals who demonstrate a commitment to studio furniture making as a potential career. To download an application to the Studio-Based Learning Program, click here.
Our program is unique because:
· We offer a flexible curriculum that is designed individually for and according to the needs of the student apprentice
· We offer diversity among our studios
· We encourage a student apprentice to work in multiple studios
· We offer a range of design techniques for a student apprentice to study
· We provide access to free, confidential business counseling
The Student Apprentice will develop:
· An understanding of what it means to work at the highest level of mastery, in accordance with the NHFMA Statement of Standards
· Design appreciation and experience
· Material understanding and use
· Finishing techniques
· Construction principles
· Efficiency/proficiency
Sean Connin
Sean Connin was the first participant in the New Hampshire Institute of Furniture Making's Studio-Based Learning Program, who began his studies in 2004.
"My interest in traditional furniture design and construction follow from a life-long interest in architecture and woodworking," notes Connin. "I have always found something wonderfully provocative and yet indefinably familiar in the figure, grain and weight of wood. My professional work as a forest ecologist and life-long love of stringed instruments serve to enumerate this relationship. In similar fashion, I am deeply impressed with the architectural possibilities and requirements of traditional woodworking. It follows that my particular focus on hand-crafted furniture is rooted in the sculptural challenges inherent to historical forms and interpretive possibilities afforded by early American designs."
Connin came to the program from the Saranac Lake region of New York, where he learned of the NHIFM initiative through the NH Furniture Masters Association website. Sean was drawn to the NHIFM program because it offered him the opportunity to work with the distinctive furniture design styles of master teachers and NHFMA members Jon Brooks, David Lamb, and Jere Osgood in a real-world setting. Unlike other furniture making programs housed in art schools, special furniture-making institutions, or technical academies, the Studio-Based Learning Program offers its students a customized curriculum based on the skill level and personal needs of each apprentice.
Through the NHIFM program, apprentices not only receive invaluable hours of one-to-one mater/learner instruction but also study within the intimate and revealing studios of the masters themselves. "The Studio-Based Learning Program provides a wonderfully intimate learning environment for aspiring furniture makers like me," says Connin. "Where else could anyone glean the diversity of technique, design, and business sense that these venerable craftspeople proffer?"
The program's newest student apprentice is Andrea Young.
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"New Hampshire's legacy of craftsmanship and traditional furniture making has been diminished by industrial production and sales during the past century. Fewer artisans endure today's economy using time-honored techniques to produce finely crafted furniture and, as a consequence, there are fewer opportunities for young people to seek training in this time-honored craft. New Hampshire has maintained a central role in the preservation and adaptation of traditional furniture styles. Without lending our knowledge and skills to others, however, we may lose our historical claim. I feel quite strongly that the studio-based training opportunities provide the most effective means of preserving the craft of fine furniture making in our state."
David Lamb
Instructor in the NHIFM Studio-Based Learning Program
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