The Forge Nashville, Tennessee

Founded in 2012, the Forge Nashville is a nonprofit organization located in a 23,000 square foot facility in the Railyard District near the Cumberland river. The Forge offers a massive makerspace, wood and metal shops, art gallery, private creative offices, and artist studios geared specifically for the artisans and creative misfits of Nashville.

Megan Fitzpatrick

Located in the Cincinnati area, Megan Fitzpatrick is a woodworker, the publisher and editor at Rude Mechanicals Press, editor of the Early American Industries Association's quarterly journal, The Chronicle, and a freelance editor for Lost Art Press and Mortise & Tenon Magazine.

Alfred Sharp

Alf Sharp is a Tennessee-based cabinetmaker and a master of carving, inlay, marquetry, and French polishing. He runs a small woodworking shop constructed around the premise of using primarily original-period hand tools. For the last 35 years, he has built museum-quality, one-of-a-kind furniture, mostly in the 18th century American style.

Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute

The Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute (SBWI) is internationally recognized as one of the top woodworking schools in the world, offering immersive hands-on training in fine furniture making, timber framing, and wood design on its wooded campus in Adrian, Michigan.

Joining us from SBWI are Carolyn Racine, woodworking teacher and VP of Continuing Education; Peter Densmore, Chief of Staff and multidisciplinary artist-in-residence; and Chelsea Roberts, VP of Marketing and Communications.

Barber Woodworking

Chris Barber is a designer, woodworker, and owner of Barber Woodworking in Nashville, Tennessee. His shop is uniquely educational, incorporating traditional apprentice and intern roles into daily work flow and offering regular classes and training for woodworking hobbyists and professionals.

Grant Howard is a Nashville-based woodworker. With a focus on stick-chairmaking, he will demonstrate a build of his Holdfast Playing Chair, designed specifically for musicians of all kinds. Grant also manages operations and education at Barber Woodworking.

Zac Vinson

Zac is a member at The Forge and splits his time between Nashville and Okayama, Japan. When he is in Japan, he works as a carpenter at Somakosha and also as a teacher at the Somakosha School. Zac will be demonstrating the use of the Yariganna (Japanese Spear Plane).