2020 Annual Appeal

FS Connects has made it possi­ble to spend time with inspir­ing thinkers and makers in a social setting, as well as given me the chance to meet makers that I other­wise would never have had a chance to get to know. This national network of people, made avail­able through FS Connects’ educa­tors’ forum, the Noise/​Makers series, and other virtual events, has been a comfort and an inspi­ra­tion. I am deeply grate­ful for that.

-Zeke Leonard — TFS Member, Educa­tor at Syra­cuse Univer­sity School of Design

Dear Friends of Furniture,

A year ago, we proudly launched Craft For a Greater Good (CGG) which connects with and serves our annual confer­ence cities through part­ner­ships and impactful projects.

This year, we were thrilled to receive funding from The John & Robyn Horn Foun­da­tion, The Sarah Little Turn­bull Foun­da­tion, and the Moeller Family Foun­da­tion, enabling us to launch a pivotal local resi­dent fellow posi­tion to ensure the success of Craft For a Greater Good. These devel­op­ments have rein­forced our dedi­ca­tion to build­ing commu­nity and empow­er­ing furni­ture design­ers and makers across the country. CGG repre­sents every­thing we stand for and we are fully commit­ted to seeing these initia­tives come to life. We couldn’t be prouder. 

And yet, a year later, the world is a very differ­ent place than it was when we launched CGG. When COVID forced us to hit the ​‘pause button’ on all of our in-person events includ­ing CGG and the annual confer­ence, we couldn’t have antic­i­pated how much would change. It was clear, however, that there was a clarion call to serve our commu­nity in new ways. 

In response, we created FS Connects, an online plat­form for virtual programs and engage­ment. We believe this is crit­i­cal to contin­u­ing to build and serve our community.

We are honored to have received initial funding from Rockler Wood­work­ing Tools & Hard­ware toward the produc­tion of FS Connects which makes programs like this possi­ble.

FS Connects is designed by and for the commu­nity. Anyone can contribute content and all are welcome to partic­i­pate. FS Connects will provide virtual program­ming that looks crit­i­cally at furni­ture’s history, spot­lights members, and demon­strates furni­ture’s role in build­ing a better future. Through group conver­sa­tions, online exhi­bi­tions, inter­views, story­telling, demon­stra­tions, and more, it allows us to amplify our collec­tive expe­ri­ences, history, knowl­edge, and skills by provid­ing low-cost oppor­tu­ni­ties for learn­ing, discourse, and commu­nity build­ing.

FS Connects program­matic high­lights from our first six months:
-Noise/​Makers — Those who make instru­ments and play them
-Sketch­book — Makers sharing pages from their sketch­books
-Show Us Your… — Live, virtual get togeth­ers — ​“Show & Tell”
-Spot­light on, Inter­views, Featured Member Mondays, Educa­tor Engage­ment Meet­ings, and more.

In the works:
-Inter­views with past Award of Distinc­tion recip­i­ents includ­ing Gary Knox Bennett, Rosanne Somer­son, Wendy Maruyama, and Bebe Johnson
-Online exhi­bi­tions and virtual gallery/​museum tours
-Conver­sa­tions with high school shop and furni­ture educa­tors
-Group discus­sions with students

With the chal­lenges being faced by the arts in this moment, your support makes a profound differ­ence. By support­ing the Furni­ture Society, you are sustain­ing and shaping our commu­nity, contribut­ing to edify­ing the next gener­a­tion, and solid­i­fy­ing furniture’s legacy. When we live our values, we can trans­form our field and advance new ideas.

Won’t you please consider joining us in our contin­ued work of build­ing this commu­nity by making a tax-deductible contri­bu­tion to TFS before Decem­ber 31st?

Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy holiday season,

Warmly,

Monica C. Hampton
Exec­u­tive Director