The Krenov School at Mendo­cino College, formerly the College of the Redwoods, was founded in 1981 by a group of Mendo­cino wood­work­ers and wood­worker and author James Krenov. It is located in the small town of Fort Bragg, about three and a half hours north of San Fran­cisco, on the North­ern Cali­for­nia coast. Mendo­cino College is a public commu­nity college, part of the Cali­for­nia Commu­nity College system.

We offer a nine-month program start­ing in the August of each year, and shorter summer classes in fine wood­work­ing. The program is inten­sive and immer­sive: six days a week, eight hours a day, and is entirely based on hands-on and project based learn­ing. The support­ive atmos­phere of the shop encour­ages commu­nity among class members. We welcome appli­ca­tions from people from all back­grounds, ages, genders, ethnic­i­ties, and levels of wood­work­ing expe­ri­ence; the common attribute is a strong and serious desire to learn more about wood’s rich­ness, variety and prop­er­ties, and ways to work with these prop­er­ties to make furni­ture of the highest quality. We do not eschew machines in our task, but we empha­size the use of hands, eyes, and the work­bench. We view the process of learn­ing as an upward spiral: constantly refin­ing tech­niques previ­ously learned, pursu­ing excel­lence in all aspects of the craft, an effort with no end. Over the decades the program has devel­oped a repu­ta­tion for combin­ing sound construc­tion tech­niques, sensi­tiv­ity to and inti­macy with mate­r­ial, and subtle personal expres­sion of individuality.

The program is led by Laura Mays, with instruc­tors Jim Budlong, Ejler Hjorth-Westh, Greg Smith, and Shop Manager Todd Soren­son. Schol­ar­ships are offered through The Krenov Foun­da­tion.

Check out our website for more details of both the nine-month and summer program: thekren​ovschool​.org

Contact us with any ques­tions you may have: woodshop@​mcn.​org or Laura directly: lmays@​mendocino.​edu

Follow them on Insta­gram and Face­book and The Krenov Foundation