Award of Distinction

The Award of Distinction recognizes and celebrates outstanding achievement and long-standing commitment by an individual or institution to the advancement of the art of furniture making. The Award is intended to strengthen the fabric of The Furniture Society’s community by naming and celebrating its aesthetic and intellectual leaders.

2024 Award of Distinction Honorees

Join us on January 11 at the Museum for Art in Wood for an inspiring evening of insight and reflection, as distinguished artist Mark Sfirri discusses place and making with our two recipients of the 2024/2025 Furniture Society Award of Distinction, Michael Hurwitz and John Kelsey. This prestigious award honors exceptional achievements and a lasting commitment to advancing the art of furniture making.

RSVP Required, free admission

The Furniture Society is excited to announce Michael Hurwitz as a 2024/2025 Award of Distinction honoree.

Michael’s award will be presented at a luncheon ceremony during the Furniture Society’s 2025 in-person conference (location and date TBD). Additional regional events are being planned for the Fall of 2025.

The Furniture Society is excited to announce John Kelsey as a 2024/2025 Award of Distinction honoree.

John’s award will be presented at a luncheon ceremony during the Furniture Society’s 2025 in-person conference (location and date TBD). Additional regional events are being planned for the Fall of 2025.

Contribute to the Award of Distinction Program

This year’s jury (Glenn Adamson, John Lavine, and Kristina Madsen) chaired by Craig Nutt concluded that:

“The 2024 – 2025 Award afforded us the opportunity to celebrate two deserving individuals whose names stood out to us – both for their individual achievements and for the appropriateness of honoring them in combination. We feel that this combination of two Awardees – one engaged commentator with a passion for craftsmanship and a big-tent view of the field, and one superlative maker with a resonant and capacious sense of meaning – captures what the FS is all about. For more than 25 years now, the organization has exemplified the union of ideas and objects, the “why” as well as the “how” of furniture making. We feel that John Kelsey and Michael Hurwitz, both separately and together, perfectly exemplify these values.”

Past Award of Distinction Honorees:

The Furniture Society is thrilled to announce Michael Puryear as the 2023 recipient of its coveted Award of Distinction. Michael’s award was presented to him at a luncheon in his honor at the 2024 conference in New Orleans, LA — FS23: Making Spaces: How Place Shapes Production, Living, and Community.

The Furniture Society is thrilled to announce Ronald D. Abramson as a 2022 recipient of its coveted Award of Distinction. His award was presented at this year’s Virtual Conference FS22: Working Together by 2014 Award of Distinction recipient Bebe Johnson.

The Furniture Society is thrilled to announce Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez as a 2022 recipient of its coveted Award of Distinction. His award was presented at this year’s Virtual Conference FS22: Working Together by Andrew Glasgow.

The Furniture Society is thrilled to announce Mira Nakashima as a 2022 recipient of its coveted Award of Distinction. Her award was presented at this year’s Virtual Conference FS22: Working Together by Bob Aibel

The Furniture Society is thrilled to announce Kristina Madsen as the 2020/2021 recipient of its coveted Award of Distinction. We will be celebrating Kristina this June during the Summer Session of FS Connects with two unique programs including object studies of her work and a virtual Awards Ceremony.

The Furniture Society proudly announces that the recipient of its coveted 2019 Award of Distinction is Tom Loeser. His award will be presented at a luncheon ceremony on Saturday, June 22, 2019 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Furniture Society is proud to announce that the recipient of its coveted 2018 Award of Distinction is Craig Nutt. His award will be presented at a luncheon ceremony on Saturday, June 16, 2018 during the Furniture Society’s conference in San Francisco. Craig Nutt will be presented his award by his good friend, Toni Sikes, who is the co-founder and CEO of CODAworx.

The Furniture Society proudly bestowed its coveted 2016 Award of Distinction upon Edward Cooke. His award was presented at a luncheon ceremony in June 2016 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Philadelphia.

The Furniture Society proudly bestowed its coveted 2016 Award of Distinction upon Thomas Hucker. His award was presented at a luncheon ceremony in June 2016 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Philadelphia.

The Furniture Society proudly bestowed its coveted 2014 Award of Distinction upon Warren and Bebe Johnson. Their award was presented at a luncheon ceremony on June 21, 2014 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Port Towsend, WA.

The Furniture Society proudly bestowed its coveted 2012 Award of Distinction upon Rosanne Somerson. Her award was presented at a luncheon ceremony on June 15, 2012 during the Furniture Society’s conference in Portland, Maine, by her colleague John Dunnigan, head of the Department of Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design.

Presented by The Furniture Society on June 18, 2010.

Presented by The Furniture Society on June 11, 2009.

Ms. Maruyama’s award was presented June 19, 2008 by Alphonse Mattia, Senior Critic, Graduate Program in Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design.

Mr. Weed’s award was presented June 19, 2008 by Edward S. Cooke, Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Mr. Fortune’s award was presented June 22, 2007 jointly by Alan Elder, Canadian Museum of Civilization’s Curator of Canadian Crafts, Decorative Arts and Design; and by Edward S. Cooke, Charles F. Montgomery Professor of American Decorative Arts, Department of the History of Art, Yale University.

Mr. Simpson’s award was presented June 9, 2006 by Robert Eagerton — painter, printmaker, and Professor at the Herron School of Art IUPUI.

Ms. McKie’s award was presented June 10, 2005 by her friend and fellow furnituremaker Michael Hurwitz.

Mr. Bennett’s award was presented June 25, 2004 by his friend Bernice Wollman.

Mr. Keyser’s award was presented on June 14, 2003 by Gail Fredell, who studied with Mr. Keyser at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the 1970’s.

Mr. Fairbanks’ award was presented June 14, 2003 by his colleague Gerald W. R. Ward, Katherine Lane Weems Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, MFA Boston.

Mr. Osgood’s award was presented June 7, 2002 by his student and colleague Thomas Hucker, who studied with Mr. Osgood at Boston University’s Program in Artisanry in the mid-1970s.

Mr. Peters’ award was presented June 7, 2002 by Toronto furniture maker Michael Fortune.

Mr. Makepeace’s award was presented June 7, 2002 by his colleague Chris Rose, teacher at the John Makepeace School for Furniture at Parnham House, Dorset, England from 1984 – 1988.

Mr. Carpenter’s award was presented March 16, 2001 by his colleague Grif Okie, an original member of the Bolinas Craft Guild.

Mr. Castle’s award was presented March 16, 2001 by Garry Knox Bennett, artist and ACC Fellow.

Mr. Frid’s award was presented March 16, 2001 by his student and colleague Rosanne Somerson, chair of the Rhode Island School of Design’s furniture program.

Mr. Krenov’s award was presented on March 16, 2001 by Peter Korn, Director of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.

Mr. Maloof’s award was presented March 16, 2001 by Jonathan Fairbanks, former curator of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.