“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”
Are you interested in learning some basic woodworking skills and walking away at the end of the day with two funky and comfortable chairs? Call them festival chairs, call them beach chairs — they’re a beautiful design and you can customize your chairs by choosing the wood and fabric. Come create — invent, experiment, and have fun (but measuring would be a good idea…).
Be ready for festival season with your new chairs!
This workshop is designed for beginners, although people with woodworking skills should also feel free to join.
Learn about the fundamentals of woodworking (yep, measure twice, cut once, as carpenters will tell you!) while making chairs that are strong and portable. We will be using hardwood lumber for the chairs, along with some lovely upholstery fabrics for the soft backs.
Everything will be created with simple tools (hand tools and a couple of battery operated tools) that are readily available.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
| 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM | Welcome and opening | |
| 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Choice of materials; basics of woodworking and frame cutting and assembly | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:00 PM – 3:45 PM | Continuing work on the chairs; finishing the wood and adding fabric. Perhaps a carrying strap, too! | |
| 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM | Wrap up and departure |
We’ll start the day by introducing you to the basic design. You’ll choose your materials and then begin measuring (twice!) and cutting (once!). We will pre-drill holes before assembling the chair frames.
After a break for a delicious Wintergreen gourmet lunch, we’ll complete the chairs by adding the backs, a finish, and a carrying strap.
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
RENA UPITIS is a self-taught carpenter. Her first major renovation project of an old stone school house was in 1984, and she has been learning ever since! She designed the lodge at Wintergreen and played a major role in its construction, including stuffing hundreds of straw bales into the walls. She studied with Rob Roy in 2006, where she first learned about cordwood construction and living roofs, techniques she has incorporated in many Wintergreen buildings.
Rena also likes to make simple and functional furniture, including willow benches and… wait for it… festival chairs! Her creations are both whimsical and rooted to the earth. She loves teaching and treats the building process as a creative interaction of materials and function.
LUKE HOWIE has worked at the intersection of experiential education, nature connection, and ecology for the duration of his career. As a place-based educator, he loves to learn from the land and those who know it best.
Luke completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and his BEd at Trent University. He has an AQ in Outdoor Experiential Education from Lakehead University and his Forest and Nature School Practitioner Certification from the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada.
Prior to joining Wintergreen Studios as Program Director in the Fall of 2023, Luke led outdoor education programming at the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto for nearly a decade. He now lives on an old farmstead in the Frontenac Arch with his family. On the farmstead, he has developed many skills, including carpentry skills. He looks forward to working along with the workshop participants as we all learn from one another.
COST & REGISTRATION
This workshop is limited to 10 participants. Payment in full is required upon registration.
$175 + HST includes instruction and use of tools, materials for two chairs to create and to take home, and a gourmet lunch.
SALE! If you sign up for more than one building workshop, you’ll get a 15% discount when you enter the code BUILD at checkout. The other two workshops in the series are Build-A-Bench (April 12) and Little Library (April 13).
If registering for more than one person, please enter the number of tickets as the “Quantity” and you will be charged accordingly.
HST is included in the checkout price.