SAPFM is a primary sponsor of Colonial Williamsburg's annual conference, "Working Wood in the 18th Century"
As usual, SAPFM will staff a booth with journals and plans, and to help members renew their membership. This year's conference theme is: To Furnish a Town: High, Low and In Between
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (Oct. 4, 2024) – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation will host its annual Working Wood in the 18th Century Conference Jan. 23-26, 2025. Offered both
virtually and in-person, this year’s conference will explore the ingenuity and quality reflected in pre-Revolutionary furniture belonging to people from diverse walks of life. A
limited number of in-person and virtual attendance scholarships are available to students and emerging professionals in relevant positions or programs.
Colonial Williamsburg’s senior curator of furniture, Tara Chicirda, will open the conference with a keynote on how people furnished their homes in the 18th century and how museum curators decide how to furnish those spaces today. Steve Brown, renowned cabinetmaker and teacher, will lead attendees through the process of building a Virginia cabriole-leg dressing table. Author and woodworker Megan Fitzpatrick will explore the dovetails, case construction, and painted surfaces of blanket chests. Colonial Williamsburg joiners Brian Weldy and Ayinde Martin will use a variety of benches to demonstrate the sophisticated greenwood turning and joinery techniques found in seemingly humble forms. To better understand how the timber to build and furnish a town was processed, Colonial Williamsburg carpenter, Matt Sanbury, and his team will offer a glimpse into how to hew
and pitsaw logs into lumber. Colonial Williamsburg cabinetmakers Bill Pavlak and John Peeler will trace the evolution of style and construction along with economic factors as they demonstrate aspects of fall front desks and drop-leaf dining tables, respectively. Colonial Williamsburg senior conservator of furniture Chris Swan will consider how furniture’s appearance has evolved over time by considering changing surface qualities.
Additional information is available at colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/conferences or by calling 1-800-603-0948 toll-free or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
