Wood is used for creating a wide variety of contemporary and traditional crafts. In this exhibit, you will see wood used to create sculpture, furniture, instruments, boats, and book covers. (Wood cut into thin strips is also a medium for many basket makers, whose work is featured in the Basket Gallery.)

Woodworkers have a special affinity for their material. Some, like traditional artist, Minnie Adkins and contemporary artist Kimberly Sotelo, harvest their materials. Others, like Virgil Ledford and Jean Horner, use their connections with local loggers or small sawmills to get the wood they need for their use.

Mark Lindquist uses only trees or branches that have already fallen, preferring to harvest this wood rather than cutting down living trees. He actually prefers trees that are partially decomposed. Keith Felder likes to work with cypress logs that were harvested long ago and sunk in rivers en route to sawmills. These “sinker cypress” logs are perfect for building the small craft he creates.

The PowerPoint™ (coming soon) in this section will help you to lead a discussion about styles and the elements and principles of art, but you might also want to use the art in this virtual gallery to lead a discussion about purposes of art.