The Furni­ture Design and Wood­work­ing program at Univer­sity of Arkansas Little Rock empha­sizes a holis­tic perspec­tive to the craft of furni­ture making. Students learn how to design and construct furni­ture, func­tional objects, and sculp­ture forms with a fluid approach to design, digital fabri­ca­tion, machine oper­a­tions, and tradi­tional hand skills.

The program recently started an urban wood initia­tive with the purchase of a Wood-Mizer band saw mill. Working in collab­o­ra­tion with the City of Little Rock Urban Forestry, students mill and dry lumber for use in commu­nity outreach projects. 

UA Little Rock provides an afford­able and high-quality educa­tion located in Arkansas’ capital city. The Depart­ment of Art and Design offers a BFA or Certifi­cate of Profi­ciency in the Furni­ture Design and Wood­work­ing empha­sis area. The depart­ment is located in the new Windgate Center of Art + Design (WCAD), a 65,500 sq. ft. build­ing that houses well-equipped studios, three galleries, and a large perma­nent art collec­tion. Wood­work­ing majors are eligi­ble for many gener­ous depart­ment schol­ar­ships offered by the Depart­ment of Art and Design.

The WCAD wood­shop consists of a large bench room and fully-equipped machine room. It also includes a sepa­rate studio for advanced students, well-stocked hand tool cabi­nets, vacuum press­ing and steam bending equip­ment, a 24“x36” 100-watt laser cutter, and a 4’x’8′ CNC router.

The UA LIttle Rock Furni­ture Design and Wood­work­ing program is over­seen by Windgate Assis­tant Profes­sor Peter Scheidt. It was formerly led by Mia Hall.

Learn more on their website and Insta­gram page