Alden Artisan Advancement

The New Hampshire Furniture Masters has established a reputation for creating works to the highest standards of design and craftsmanship. As a group they offer each other inspiration and critical feedback, and collectively address the challenge of marketing such distinctive and artistic work.

While the Furniture Masters benefit from belonging to this dynamic group, they are also passionate about giving back to the furniture community. Several Furniture Masters have been an integral part of a Prison Outreach Program where they offer instruction and mentorship to inmates at correctional facilities in New Hampshire and Maine.

The Furniture Masters offer the Alden Artisan Advancement to help support an emerging artist in furthering their career as a professional furniture maker. The recipient of the award will receive a $1,500 scholarship towards put towards the development and promotion of an original furniture piece. The original piece, after undergoing a jury process, is exhibited at the Furniture Masters’ annual Main Event fundraising gala. The Main Event is an opportunity to exhibit alongside established makers and interact with current and past patrons in an intimate setting.

The emerging artist will be encouraged to create something which showcases their very best work. As part of the award, the piece will be professionally photographed and the artist will receive promotion on the Furniture Masters’ social media channels.

We will not be accepting any Alden Artisan Advancement recipients at this time.

 

Jamie Herman Receives the 2018-19 Alden Artisan Advancement Award

Fine furniture designer and maker Jamie Herman is the recipient of the 2018-19 Alden Artisan Advancement award for his five-legged side table design. Herman is a recent graduate of the Immersion Program at the Vermont Woodworking School in Fairfax, VT and currently resides in Cambridge, VT. Pictured is a computerized rendering of Herman’s proposed design for his five-legged side table, made in walnut with white inlays. The legs of the table will be angled in a spiraling pattern down and away from the top, which will necessitate some challenging joinery. The aprons and stretchers will be hand-shaped and twist from one leg to the next.

To read the press release on Jamie Herman, click here.

Previous Award Recipients

Jamie Herman, 2019 Alden Artisan Advancement recipient

“I believe the Alden Artisan Advancement award will be a huge opportunity for me, allowing me to learn from masters of my craft while I try to keep pushing the boundaries of what I can make from wood.”
— Jamie Herman

Dean Babin, 2018 Alden Artisan Advancement recipient

“I realized that woodworking was going to be my career when my job in digital media was getting in the way of the furniture I was making. I was carving out as much time as possible outside of my day job to work on furniture, but it wasn’t enough for the level of craft I was pursuing.”
— Dean Babin

In November 2017, after Dean Babin received this award, he was featured in Fine Woodworking Magazine. Click here to read the article.

Grant Burger, 2017 Alden Artisan Advancement recipient

“Simply knowing my design would be critiqued by the Furniture Masters’ jury was reason enough to apply.”
— Grant Burger

Read about Grant Burger’s experience as the first Alden Artisan Advancement recipient in this article featured in Fine Woodworking Magazine.