Each year, the Society invites members to submit work across three categories. Three makers are recognized — one per category — and the work runs in Pins & Tales and shows at the Mid-Year Conference.
Submissions are open through December 31, 2026. Members enter through the Bench.
The Makers Challenge is a yearly invitation to the Society's members to take on a piece of work and submit it across one of three categories. Submissions arrive from members in all twenty-two chapters and beyond.
The program is named for Philip C. Lowe, who received the Society's Cartouche Award in 2005 and gave decades of his life to teaching American period furniture making — first at North Bennet Street, then through his Furniture Institute of Massachusetts, and at chapter meetings and Mid-Year conferences throughout. Phil died in January 2021. The Society's annual challenge to its members carries his name.
Recognition is quiet by design. Three makers are named each year — one per category — and the work runs in Pins & Tales. There is no scoring, no runner-up roll, no prize tier. The work is the work; the rest of the membership reads it and goes back to the bench.
Earlier years are kept in the Society's archive.
An annual challenge. A quiet recognition.
