Acclaimed Artist to Lecture on History of American Furniture

Mark Sfirri. Courtesy photo.

The Donkey Mill Art Center will present an artist talk by master craftsman Mark Sfirri entitled “History of American Studio Furniture,” on Thursday, Sept. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Big Island Woodturners’ Guild, the free lecture will begin with an ‘ohana-style potluck reception. Guests are requested to bring a dish to share.

Mark Sfirri studied furniture design under Tage Frid at Rhode Island School of Design, where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Art. He designs and makes furniture and sculpture pieces, incorporating lathe-turned forms on multiple axes in his work. He has lectured and demonstrated his techniques throughout North America and Europe, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. Sfirri’s work is included in 27 public collections including The Museum of Arts & Design in New York, The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, The Renwick Gallery, The Minneapolis Institute of Art and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Sfirri just completed his thirty-sixth and final year as a full-time professor at Bucks County Community College in Newton, Pa., where he has run the Fine Woodworking Program since 1981. He is also the recipient of two national awards: the “Distinguished Educator Award” in 2010 from the Renwick Alliance of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institutions, and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Collectors of Wood Art in 2012.

The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.donkeymillartcenter.org or call (808) 322-3362.

Donkey Mill Art Center is the home of Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture, a nonprofit art education organization.  The Center is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.