“What, however, is art? whence does it spring? Art is man’s embodied expression of interest in the life of man; it springs from man’s pleasure in his life; pleasure we must call it, taking all human life together, however much it may be broken by the grief and trouble of individuals; and as it is the expression of pleasure in life generally, in the memory of the deeds of the past, and the hope of those of the future, so it is especially the expression of man’s pleasure in the deeds of the present; in his work.”
- William Morris, “The Worker’s Share of Art,” Commonweal, April 1885
This is an oral history of the 2022-2023 Camosun College Fine Furniture program. Founded in 1986 at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia, for 36 years students from all walks of life have enrolled in this full-time, ten month long program to learn joinery, cabinetry, and fine furniture making. These conversations took place in May and June 2023, as students were working on their final capstone project - a chair they designed and built which was displayed over the summer at an art gallery in Victoria.
This history seeks to capture some of the lessons learned in those ten months, many of which never appeared on the syllabus. These students didn’t just learn how to join pieces of wood together. They learned self-confidence and perseverance in the face of adversity. They gave themselves permission to master new skills, to try and fail and succeed at new ambitions, and to push the boundaries of what they are capable of. They grappled with what it means to be a maker and an artist in the 21st century.
For those of us who were sieved through LCD screens, sifted through the liberal arts, and made a living answering emails and phone calls with un-calloused palms, learning how to properly wield a saw and chisel is revelatory. You begin to suspect the world lost something important when it became easier and cheaper to buy a table than build one. This impression is confirmed the first time you give a loved one something you made, when you see the look of awe and admiration on their face and hear their surprise and delight while exclaiming, “Oh my god! How did you DO that?!”
The very best educational experiences don’t just recite facts or teach skills. The Fine Furniture program’s three instructors - Sandra Carr, Beth Grayer, and Mike Randall - change how their students think and feel about the world. They help students reevaluate their place in it. Sandra and Beth and Mike show students how to take pleasure in the act of creation, and how their creations can make the world a more beautiful place. This is not “just” teaching. If William Morris is right - and I believe he is - and art is the pleasure people take in their labor, than the immeasurable pleasures offered by the Fine Furniture program transform the class into something more than a educational experience. Learning how to create from Sandra and Beth and Mike, learning how to bring something into this difficult world which is beautiful and useful and makes people happy - this experience was art.
- Joel Feinman, Camosun College Fine Furniture Program, June 2023
Questions/concerns: jbfeinman@gmail.comAll music written and performed by Dustin Hawthorne
