Instructors
The instructors at Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute are professional woodworkers and the best at their craft. We work together, share ideas, and provide the best woodworking education possible.
Grace Ambrose
-
Grace Ambrose is a chairmaker and educator based in Kansas City, Missouri. Her work explores the stick chair form, which she learned to build from Christopher Schwarz at Lost Art Press with the support of the Chairmaker’s Toolbox. For her, the feeling of sitting in a new chair after it comes together never gets old — it's like magic every time. She loves teaching almost as much as she loves building chairs, an you can find her classes at venues like the John C. Campbell Folk School, Fireweed Woodshop, and her home shop, the Kansas City Woodworkers' Guild.
Luke Barnett
-
President Barnett is a native of Adrian, Michigan. In 2011, he began crafting traditional American Windsor chairs and soon after earned many awards, including “Top Craftsman in North America” from the Directory of Traditional American Crafts and Early American Life Magazine in 2015, 2016, and 2017. He won “Best Project” in the seating category through Popular Woodworking Magazine in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, President Barnett’s handmade Birdcage Rocking Chair was selected to be a part of a traveling Smithsonian Exhibit. He was awarded “Rotarian of the Year 2020” and “Outstanding Honors 2018-2019” for his devotion to Adrian Noon Rotary and the Woodworking for Warriors Program. President Barnett was also selected to be a guest speaker at the International Woodworking Fair in 2018 and 2020, where his speech titled “Be the Spark” focused on engaging students at younger ages through community outreach.
President Barnett is an Accredited Skills Evaluator through the Woodworking Career Alliance of North America, and 2021 was a Finalist for “Top Young Woodworking Professional in the World” through The Woodworking Network. In 2020, he was awarded the Woodworking Network “40 Under 40 Award." In 2024, he was a speaker at the Michigan Mass Timber Conference and in 2025, he testified before the Michigan House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor and Economic Opportunity on the importance of skilled trades education in Michigan.
Michael Belzowski
-
Mike is an award-winning master carpenter with over 35 years of experience. He has studied with some of the great craftsmen of our time, including Sam Maloof, Frank Klausz, Stephen Proctor, Michael Fortune and Steve Latta. In 2008, Mike completed the Masters Program at Marc Adams School of Woodworking. His work has been featured in Fine Homebuilding and profiled by Festool USA in their Presents video series. He frequently demonstrates woodworking techniques at wood shows and guilds in the Midwest region. He owns and operates Belzowski Woodworking and Design, located in Northwest Indiana. Mike lives on 60 acres in LaPorte County with his wife Nora, their two children, Mira and Zeke, and two dogs, two cats and four chickens. In his free time, Mike enjoys biking, baking and beekeeping. Learn more about Mike in the video below:
Félix Bouchet
-
My name is Félix (he/him), born and raised in France where I spent a lot of time splitting fire wood with my grandfather. I studied wood engineering in France and cabinet making in Canada. I fell in love with Windsor chairs while working for George Sawyer in Vermont in 2019 and 2020. I loved using simple tools and working with the wood to make durable and comfortable seating. I set up my own workshop back at home in 2021 and I’ve been building chairs and teaching classes using green wood since then. I’m fascinated by the idea of using our hands to build things and how each maker leaves their mark on the final piece. Increasingly I’ve been replacing sandpaper with finishing hand tools, which brings me a lot of joy. I hope to share my experience and my interest in this way of working to students and I’m very excited to be invited to Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute.
Armando Covarrubias Jr
-
Armando Covarrubias Jr is a furniture maker originally from Arrey, New Mexico. After many years working in the food science and agriculture industry with his family, he decided to change careers and attend the Wood Design: Furniture Making program. He builds custom-made furniture by combining hand tools, craftsmanship, and modern machinery. He has always loved working with his hands, and has spent most of his life working on his family farm in the chili fields or building and welding farm equipment for their manufacturing facilities. This lifestyle naturally accommodated a strong sense of community, and Armando developed the patience to watch a seed grow into a fully mature crop. An organic career transition for him was furniture making, which employed many of the same principles he had always been drawn to. After completing the Wood Design program, Armando stepped into the role of Assistant Instructor and, in 2025, became both the Vice President of Academics and the Co-Lead Instructor of the Wood Design program.
Peter Densmore
-
Peter Densmore is originally from Aurora, IL. His first memories of woodworking are of pinewood derby cars with his father, who would inspire and help him realize all manner of woodworking ideas from chessboards to spice racks as he grew older. In 2008 he received a BA in English from Southern Illinois University, then lived six years in Salt Lake City as an Air Force officer and Army civil servant. In these years, he began to build simple pieces of furniture alongside developing other creative practices, including music production.
After two years in Chicago learning the photography and videography industry, he returned to Utah as a National Park Ranger. There, he met his wife Kadi, and devoted eight years to visual design and public affairs work in Bryce Canyon National Park. He and his wife, Kadi, now call southern Michigan and the River Raisin watershed their home. In 2025, Peter completed the 9-month Wood Design career program. Following commencement, he joined SBWI as an Artist-in-Residence.
His creative contributions at the school strive to draw influence from the Shakers and their devotion to simplicity, integrity, and the belief that good work is a necessary form of human expression. Peter remains a multidisciplinary artist, working in photography, music, and woodworking. You can visit him on Instagram at @PeterDensmore
Zack Fealk
-
Zack is from Detroit, Michigan and graduated from MSU with a BS in Natural Resource Management. He is also a graduate of the Wood Design: Furniture Making program at the SBWI. Outside of the woodshop, he facilitates historic home remodels in the city of Detroit and builds custom furniture pieces in his woodworking practice Friendo Furniture. Zack is dedicated to learning other woodworking disciplines, including traditional timber framing, chairmaking, and advanced joinery skills. Zack’s goal is to push himself through design and building techniques that will allow him to prosper as a maker. Woodworking is a constant learning process, and he is eager to be a lifelong student. He is the Lead Instructor of the Wood Design program and teaches several specialty courses at SBWI. Zack was recently awarded a honoree of the Woodworking Network “40 Under 40 Awards" Class of 2024.
Greg Gallegos
-
Greg Gallegos is a Michigan-based woodturner and artist with over 25 years of experience. Operating from his Haslett studio, Natural Selection Studio, he transforms reclaimed, local, and exotic woods into handcrafted vessels and sculptures. His journey began in high school woodshop, evolving into a lifelong passion. Gallegos is renowned for his commitment to sustainability and craftsmanship, creating pieces that range from functional to sublime. He actively shares his expertise through teaching and demonstrations, inspiring others in the woodturning community. His work has been featured in galleries and publications nationwide.
Bob Goppold
-
Bob grew up in New Jersey, studied in Philadelphia, and now lives in Southeast Michigan with his wife, Joan, where they raised four children. A lifelong maker, Bob enjoys woodworking, metalworking, and restoring machines. He began in his father’s shop creating ecclesiastical metal artwork and continues to blend wood and metal in his projects. Currently, he’s remodeling his retirement home, rebuilding a vintage lathe, designing a timber-framed shed roof, and completing a Naturalist Certification with MSU Extension.
A car enthusiast and educator, Bob has been involved in motorsports as a driver, engineer, and technical manager, and has supported the Formula SAE collegiate competition for over 25 years, now managing its Acceleration event. Professionally, he worked as an Engineering Manager at a major automaker, a Technical Manager in professional racing, and a consultant in manufacturing excellence. He holds an MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and an AS in CNC, and began his career as a machinist. In 2026, Bob was named “SBWI Volunteer of the Year”.
Alexander Grabovetskiy
-
Alexander Grabovetskiy was recognized as the 2012 International Wood Carver of the year, and his piece Wall Decoration was awarded first place. His work utilizes the same approaches used for centuries by master woodcarvers, including techniques employed by Grinling Gibbons. In 2015 Alexander Grabovetskiy was Editors’ Choice to be Awarded with Woodworking Excellence in category: Turnings, Carvings & Objets d’Art by Popular Woodworking Magazine.
Grabovetskiy was born on July 4, 1973, in the Russian town of Dimitrovgrad. His grandfather taught him basic woodcarving techniques at six-years old, and at 16 he was taken on as an apprentice by renowned carver Vladimir Tokarev. Due to his faith and his refusal to enlist in the Soviet Armed Forces, Grabovetskiy was imprisoned by the Soviet authorities. He was freed after two years as part of an Amnesty International campaign for prisoners of faith incarcerated by the USSR. In prison he began a business making furniture and kitchen sets, and finding no work upon his release at the age of 21 years, he continued on to run his own woodworking enterprise.
In 1996, Grabovetskiy immigrated as a political refugee to the United States together with his wife Nadia and their 10-month-old son. The woodworking and custom home building business that he established in Goshen, Indiana, Aalmark LLC, employed a number of expert craftsmen who were also Christian refugees from the former Soviet Union. He currently works in South Florida.
Scott Grove
-
Scott Grove is a woodworker, artist, sculptor, teacher, author, tool designer, and an international award-winning mastercraftsman. As a self-taught woodworker, Grove is known for layers of artistic expression and veneer and inlay expertise. His work can be found in prominent museum, gallery, and private collections, and he maintains an educational site for craftspeople, ImagineWoodworking.com.
He teaches, lectures, and holds workshops on a variety of woodworking, sculpture, gilding, wood turning, creative thinking, and fiberglass reconstruction topics, as well as business subjects. He also demonstrates and judges at national and international conferences as well as online interactive remote demos (IRDs), and regional and local woodworking groups. He is a contributing writer for Woodworking Network, Fine Woodworking, Woodshop News, FDM, American Woodturner Magazines, among others, and has published three books on woodworking with a fourth about the business of craft.
Grove has won numerous awards including four Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge Awards, as well as the Grand Prize, an unprecedented achievement. He has been featured on Popular Woodworking’s Woodworking in Action series, PBS’s American Woodshop, and HGTV’s The Furniture Show. He also won a prestigious Napkin Sketch Award from the American Institute of Architects sponsored by Architectural Record Magazine, and a DuPont Award for Innovative Use of Material, as well as many more awards over his 45+ year career.
His work has been featured in publications such as Fine Woodworking Magazine, Celebrated Living (American Airlines First Class Magazine), Woodshop News, Architectural Record, Interior Design, Design New York, The Robb Report, Democrat & Chronicle, CITY News, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.
A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in environmental design and a minor in sculpture, Grove also studied at RIT’s School for American Crafts. He has worked at Wendell Castle Studio as Studio Director and Sculptor and currently maintains a studio in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York, where he produces commission work and speculative sculpture and furniture as well as limited edition pieces. He also owns and operates an architectural fiberglass reproduction company and an exotic inlay supply business.
Angelo Hernandez Martinez
-
With 15 years of experience in product design, Angelo Hernandez Martinez is a relationship-driven professional who specializes in designing and developing furniture for mass production. A 2022 SBWI graduate and recipient of the Red Seal Award, he also holds a BFA in Industrial Design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.
From sketch to commercialization, Angelo champions his designs along the development cycle to ensure that integrity does not get lost in the process. He is adept in aligning diverse interests within complex organizations and prides himself on his rational thinking, intuition, and, most importantly, his ability to build authentic relationships based on mutual respect.
Outside of work, Angelo enjoys yoga, art, and challenging himself to deepen his own creative practice through community engagement.
Ethan Higgins
-
Ethan is a timber framer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Born in Eastern Massachusetts and learning the trade while working in Vermont, he was first brought to Michigan in 2017 to help his close friends build a new milking parlor on their 6th generation dairy farm. Ethan soon found a wide interest in his work - especially within the small farm community in Washtenaw County - and in 2019 started his own company, Roof Jumper Timber Frames (named for a barn on his family’s now defunct dairy farm). Since then, he has built and restored a variety of timber frame structures, many of which are working barns and agricultural buildings on small, family-owned farms. Ethan specializes in hewn, scribed, and full-round material, and has adopted a mission to not only promote the craft of timber framing, but also to work in line with the vision of what the world can look like when care is put into the food we grow, the buildings we construct, and the work we do every day.
Scott Holtz
-
Scott is a Lenawee County native and has been caning chairs for 35 years. Challenged by his grandmother to "Get a library book and see if you can figure it out.", he is always on the lookout for a Detroit Chair Company project. Graduating from Adrian College with a BBA in Accounting, Scott is currently the Deputy Clerk for the Village of Onsted. You will also find him, caning chairs, every Spring and Fall at the Farmers Antique Tractor and Engine Association shows.
Jaime Marvin
-
Jaime Marvin grew up in a historic home in Metamora, Michigan, where a love for craftsmanship took root early. Always by her father’s side, she learned woodworking, metalworking, and how to fix or build just about anything. Music became another lifelong passion—Jaime played multiple instruments, earned a Master of Luthiery Certificate in 2003, and eventually purchased the local music store where she once worked. She transformed it into a thriving community space offering lessons, repairs, and live performances.
In 2020, Jaime developed a neurological disorder that affected her right hand and ended her ability to perform music. That loss marked the beginning of a new chapter. She became a Master Gardener, earned her Michigan Builder’s License, and in 2025, graduated from the Wood Design program at the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute, earning the Red Seal Award for most outstanding student. Jaime has since built her own workshop and is excited to see where her journey of craftsmanship and creativity will lead next.
Mary May
-
European trained woodcarver, Mary May, has been carving for over 30 years and currently works out of her studio in Charleston, South Carolina, specializing in traditional, classical woodcarving. She takes on carving commissions from furniture makers, designers, and architects as well as creates her own designs. Mary teaches woodcarving at a variety of schools throughout the US and Europe and has her own online, video-based carving school -www.marymaycarving.com. She recently completed her first book, Carving the Acanthus Leaf (published through Lost Art Press), and has written articles for Popular Woodworking, Fine Woodworking, Woodcarving Illustrated, and the Society of American Period Furniture Makers. Mary has also appeared as a guest on Roy Underhill's PBS Show, The Woodwright's Shop four times. Her desire in all that she shares is to help keep this beautiful and traditional art alive and vibrant. Learn more about Mary May at www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/
Steve McCarroll
-
Steve is a SBWI Alumni and woodworking hobbyist, who has always had an interest in woodworking. It wasn't until about three years ago that he truly decided to jump into the craft after serving in the US Army for the previous 24 years. Since then, he has created McCarroll Custom Cutting Boards where he enjoys designing unique patterns with a mix of domestic and exotic wood species. In 2022 Steve joined the Wood Design: Furniture Making program, and graduated on June 4th, 2023 with a 4.0 GPA.
He is an avid sports fan who vigorously roots for all Detroit teams and the University of Michigan. He's a glutton for punishment! He also enjoys hunting, fishing, and outings with his fellow veterans.
Steve is a member of Woodworking for Warriors and his proudest moment in the wood shop is when his Woodworking Warrior peers voted him as both the Best Teacher and Most Helpful in 2021.
Joe Miller
-
Licensed P.E.in MI, WI, MN, KS, MO, IN, IA, NC, GA, OK, TN. P.Eng. in BC, AB, and ON.
In 2009, before the ink dried on Joe’s Ph.D., he joined the Fire Tower team, where he will continue his groundbreaking work on keyed beams.
Joe’s interest in timber framing grew from a project he took on with his father, rebuilding an ancestral barn in southern Indiana. In Joe's freshman year at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, he attended a lecture by Ben Brungraber. Ben must have said something inspiring, because Joe ventured forth on an ambitious track that eventually led to a Masters in Civil Engineering at University of Wyoming. While in school, Joe conducted innovative research on the strength of wooden dowels - findings that significantly advanced the acceptance of timber frame construction among engineers and code officials.
Masters degree in hand, Joe had a two-year stint with Yankee Barn Homes in New Hampshire, doing engineering, lateral analysis, drafting and frame design. Next came a spell with Trillium Dell Timberworks in Illinois, where he refined his design, engineering and cutting skills in the shop. Meanwhile, Joe sought out a school where he could undertake intensive research on key laminated beams. Michigan Technological University gave him the green light, and now Joe has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Civil Engineering for his analytic methodology for the design and engineering of keyed beams. Concurrent to his advanced studies, Joe privately consulted on timber frame designs and taught on-line courses for Norwich University in Advanced Structural Analysis.
Joe’s trailblazing through the industry has led him to Fire Tower, a team that shares his passion for extending the reach of solid sawn timber.
Alex Monte-Sano
-
Alex works at the intersection of fine woodworking and data visualization. His goal is to transform pressing social, economic, and scientific issues into tangible, beautiful objects. In transforming abstract ideas and statistics into a physical form, he hopes to create narratives around the themes of inequality, social well-being, mental health, climate change, and technological progress.
Alex started his career at an institutional money manager in San Francisco, California after earning a degree in economics from Yale. While working full-time, he spent his free time building furniture and tutoring middle school students. After a few years in the financial services industry, graduate school in engineering at UC Berkeley, and taking care of his two young children full time, he transitioned to teaching math and economics to high school students in Washington, D.C. and Ann Arbor, MI, where he founded and led a competitive robotics team for nearly 10 years.
Patrick Moore
-
Patrick is Le Canadien 'L'Ami du Trait', the first North and South American Compagnon Passant Charpentier. His passion and ambition are to revive the "School of Practical Stereotomy Applied to Construction" founded by Compagnon Charpentier Pierre Guillon, (1871-1923). Mr. Guillon was a Master Carpenter, Professor, Mayor, and Freemasonic Dignitary. Patrick is North and South America's first and only Compagnon Passant Charpentier that completed the 'Tour-de-France' and was received by the 'Compagnons Passant Charpentier' (2013). He received a Masters from 'La Grande École des Hommes de Métier en Compagnonnage' in Carpentry. Patrick finished an apprenticeship program in Canada - Red seal certificate (2009) - and at St. Lawrence College - Advanced Carpentry Apprenticeship (2009). He received Algonquin College Diplomas - Heritage Masonry (2005) and Heritage Carpentry (2007) and has written articles on the Compagnonnage and Art du Trait for the Timber Framers Journal and Scantlings. He is registered with the CCQ and hold 'Carte de Competance' for Quebec. Patrick is a member of the Association des Compagnons du Devoir Guild in France, the Timber Framers Guild of North America, the Carpenter Fellowship in the U.K., The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America - Local 93, and the Heritage Carpentry Advisory Committee at the Algonquin College Perth Campus. Learn more about Patrick at www.historicalcarpentry.com
Shane Mooney
-
Shane Mooney born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has always had a passion for making things with his hands and a deep appreciation for nature. He picked up woodworking as a hobby after realizing his fascination with wood’s natural character and landscape-like grain patterns. Shane enjoys making functional items and expressive art pieces while reminding himself that he is making things out of trees.
Tom Nehil
-
Tom Nehil is a structural engineer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he specializes in evaluation, preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Tom is a member of the Timber Framers Guild and Timber Frame Engineering Council and chairs the Timber Grading Training Committee. He is a member of the Association for Preservation Technology, the Michigan Barn Preservation Network and the Michigan Historic Preservation Network along with other professional organizations. He is a regular instructor at Tillers International in Kalamazoo where he teaches wood identification, timber frame design, and traditional stone masonry.
Tom’s interest in wood goes back to his days as a young professional carpenter prior to starting his engineering career. He is a woodworker, wood turner, and timber framer in his spare time.
Gregg Perez
-
Gregorio (Gregg) Perez is a multi-discipline artist working in ceramics, printmaking and wood. His work is versatile and explores many themes from representational illustration to abstract expressionism. Inspired by the woods and waters of his childhood in Michigan, much of his early art reflects a sense of wonder and joy which was used for educational purposes and conservation. Several of his designs were donated to the River Raisin Watershed Council. Another was published in “Fly Fisherman Magazine”. He then turned to literature, pre-colombian art and eastern philosophy as a means to transcend time and feel closer to his ancestors. He now leans heavily on simplicity, themes of ephemeral beauty and the passing of time. His most recent work is an exploration of relief in clay combined with abstract color fields. In addition to working in his home studio in Dexter, MI, he teaches “Clay Studio Basics” at Washtenaw Community College and has served as the Studio Technician there since 2023. In addition, he has taught printmaking, drawing, painting and sculpture at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lakes, Michigan over the last 10 years. Gregg graduated from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Western Michigan University in Industrial Design and Art in 1990.
Carolyn Racine
-
Carolyn grew up in Tecumseh, MI and studied Creative Writing at The University of Michigan. After college, she moved to California and spent the next 11 years doing stand up and sketch comedy, writing for shows at the Upright Citizens Brigade and The Pack theaters. She returned home to southeast Michigan to learn woodworking and graduated from SBWI’s Furniture Design program in 2024. Carolyn is now the Vice President of Continuing Education and teaches woodworking and upholstery. She also runs a small upholstery business called Pigeon Princess Furniture.
Daniel Schuck
-
Within the vast, velvet-green Pine Barren forest of southern New Jersey, Dan’s admiration for nature was formed and fostered. His countless hours spent among the trees and natural beings planted a seed for an ever-expanding love and connection to the natural world. After about fifteen years spent making a career in the hospitality industry, he found himself in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here, amongst the towering redwoods and reaching coast live oaks, Dan felt both a deeper relationship with natural materials fostering and a desire to introduce a slower, more hands-on pace & practice. What began as a few rudimentary furniture projects around the house, soon grew into an educational pursuit at Laney College’s Wood Technology program in Oakland, CA. In 2017, after completing the program, he began an eight year journey with Brimer Workshop in Richmond, CA - moving from assistant to Head Fabricator - building and installing high-end custom furniture and cabinetry for clients throughout the Bay Area. While learning to draft his first projects in 2014, Dan became acquainted with the 3D modeling program Sketchup. Captivated by the ability of this program to turn thoughts & ideas into detailed, workable plans, he began sharpening these skills with commissioned and personal furniture projects. He furthered this pursuit as the in-house drafter of all shop drawings at Brimer Workshop. In 2025, Dan relocated to a 4-acre farm house in the River Raisin watershed and became acquainted with the Sam Beauford school. Dan has recently joined the program as Sketchup Instructor and, with gratitude, looks forward to deepening his relationship with both the students and the school in years to come.
Steve Skornicka
-
Steven J Skornicka, 70, married for 50 years to his wife. He has two children Nick age 37 and Anne age 29. Steve has worked mostly in the automotive industry for the majority of his career. He worked heavily in engineering and project/operations management. He has extensive experience with the Lean Manufacturing principle and has brought those processes and ideas to the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute to help us create an orderly, organized, and well-sustained management program for shop functionality. In his free time, Steve loves to do woodworking at home and use the knowledge he’s gained from his career and classes at SBWI to work on his own creations. He also enjoys spending lots of time with his wife, friends, and family. He also is the owner & operator of the woodworking business “What Knots”.
Nathanael Ulfers
-
Nathanael Ulfers is a Virginian woodworker and timber-framer, specializing in vernacular architecture and early methods of the craft from his own region of the Chesapeake and to an increasing degree, all over.
A deep interest in architecture, a propensity for pre-industrial craftsmanship, and a very wise grandmother set the course at childhood. Early experiments and hungry research led to great opportunities in the bountiful field of historic restoration. Here in the land of first presidents, Nathanael sought out and learned from the best in the field on the likes of Mount Vernon, Montpelier, and many other great early American houses over the years.
In the time since, Nathanael has traveled all over the east coast for clients such as the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, and all the way to Japan to move a Meiji Era farmhouse to the western hemisphere. Most recently, Nathanael has been working in Jamaica as the lead timber-framer on a large project involving many structures designed and built using historical materials and methods of Jamaica.
When he isn't on the road or lost in an airport, Nathanael can be found buried alive under his own personal projects in a 1750s-built Virginia hall-and-parlor just east of Fredericksburg, with his wife (an expert in historic textiles) and young son (an expert in excited incoherent babbling).
Nathanael is a contributor to the Traditional Timber-framing Research and Advisory Group of the Timber Framers Guild and teaches workshops for preservation students of Mary Washington University, the American College of Building Arts, and has been instructing at VMI's biannual FTX timber framing workshop since 2015.
Robert Vogel
-
Bob Vogel has been involved in the woodworking field of education and industry his entire adult life. Bob graduated from the building trades course at the Lenawee County VoTech School (Now CTE). He attended Western Michigan University where he majored in Industrial Education. He recently retired as the CEO/President of Hardwoods of Michigan. In 2010 Bob was named as one of North Americas 50 most influential people in the hardwood lumber Industry. Bob serves as the Chairman of the Board for the SBWI, and teaches Lumber Grading and The Truth About Trees Youth Class at the Great Lakes Woodworking Festival.
Kimberly Winkle
-
A native of Oklahoma, Kimberly Winkle is a maker who creates furniture and objects using wood and paint; her work displays a balance of form, color and surface pattern. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including SOFA Chicago, Wanted Design NYC and the Architectural Digest Home Show. Her work has been included in a number of publications, including American Woodturner, Woodturner magazine, Fine Woodworking, Woodworker, and Woodworker West magazines and the books 500 Tables, and 500 Chairs. Winkle has been awarded multiple artist residencies, including the Windgate International Turning Exchange (now WARP) at the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, the Windgate Artist Residency at State University New York (SUNY) Purchase, Windgate Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Open Studio Residency, the Windgate Craft residency at the Vermont Studio Center, Anderson Ranch Art Center and at the Appalachian Center for Craft. In 2011 she was awarded a State of Tennessee Individual Artist Award, the Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston) John D. Mineck furniture fellowship in 2014 and has been nominated 3 times for a USA Artist award.
Winkle is a Professor and Director of the School of Art, Craft & Design at Tennessee Technological University. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Art in Furniture Design from San Diego State University. Her workshop teaching experience includes, the Escoulen School of Woodturning (France), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Port Townsend School of Woodworking, John C. Campbell Folk School, Peters Valley School of Craft, Snow Farm, and the Appalachian Center for Craft.
@kimberly_winkle
A Note About Safety: At the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute, student safety is our highest priority. To ensure a secure learning environment, all SBWI staff members are fully certified in CPR and first aid through the American Red Cross, equipping them to respond effectively to medical emergencies. Additionally, our team has completed disaster preparedness training with FEMA, enhancing our readiness to handle various emergency situations with skill and confidence. With this commitment to safety, we strive to provide a safe, supportive space where students can focus on their craft, knowing they are in capable, well-prepared hands.