24th ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

Friday, January 27 & Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Tennessee Association of Woodturners (TAW) will be presenting their annual Symposium on Friday, January 27th and Saturday, January 28th, 2012. The Symposium will again be held at the Radisson Hotel at Opryland on Music Valley Drive across from Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee. The hotel has recently completed a full renovation, which includes a new restaurant.

The 2012 Symposium features some of the world’s leading woodturners including Al Stirt, Dale Larson, Jennifer Shirley, Ashley Harwood and Mark Gardner.

2012 Symposium Detail

Daily Schedule – Click here for the symposium demonstration schedule
Demonstration Descriptions – Click here for the demonstration schedule
Instant Gallery – We invite every Symposium participant to display up to four pieces of their work for all others to enjoy during the Symposium.
Peoples Choice Award – Each year every participant can enter up to one piece, which is entirely their own work, into the Peoples Choice Award. All participants at the Symposium will be asked to vote and select the best piece for an award.
Slideshow/Roundtable Discussion – Friday evening there will be a slide presentation, and a roundtable discussion between the demonstrators and participants. During the presentation you will learn more about the demonstrator’s work and opinions in the wood turning world.

Banquet and Auction

Banquet – Prior to our auction on Saturday evening there will be a banquet at the Radisson Hotel, which is included in the price of the registration.
Auction – All proceeds from the auction will support continuing education and training in woodturning through our demonstrator and scholarship programs. In addition auction proceeds fund our outreach grants with organizations such as Narrowgate, TACA, and the Tennessee Art League. Highlights of the auction include wood turnings, wood and tools donated by our demonstrators and vendors. We encourage all Symposium participants to donate a piece to the auction to benefit the education funds. All sales are final.

Vendors – Click here for the symposium vendor list

Registration Forms and Fees

*includes Banquet/Auction, whether attending or not.

Cancellation Policy: After December 31, 2011 a $50 processing fee will be deducted if registration is cancelled. After January 14, 2012 the registration fee is not refundable

Questions?

If you have any questions or assistance in registration to the Symposium, either fill out this form or call Jeff Brockett, TAW President, at 615-973-3336.

Radisson Hotel at Opryland

2401 Music Valley Drive, Nashville, TN 37214

To reserve a room either call 615-889-0800 and ask for the special accommodation rate of $109 per night for the Symposium, or use the Radisson website – using the promotional code: WOOD12.

Hotel Booking Instructions – these instructions explain how to book your room online.

Directions -

View Larger Map

What to Do In Nashville

There are many other interesting places to see around Nashville including Grand Ole Opry, Bluebird Cafe, Country Music Hall Of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, Tennessee Art League and Frist Center For The Arts.

Demonstrator Bios

Al Stirt

Al Stirt has been a professional woodturner for more than 40 years. His work is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Smithsonian, the White House, the Museum of Art and Design, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He has demonstrated and taught about woodturning & design in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada as well as throughout the U.S. In 1997 the American Association of Woodturners awarded him an Honorary Lifetime Membership for his commitment and contributions to the field of woodturning.

In additional to his functional bowls and platters, for the last 20 years he has been making ceremonial objects to try to address emotional & spiritual needs.
www.alstirt.com

Dale Larson

Dale Larson lives in Gresham, Oregon. He has been turning for over 32 years. His specialty is turning bowls from local hardwoods like Madrone and Big Leaf Maple. Dale’s bowls sell in four art galleries: The Real Mother Goose in Portland, Oregon, Northwest Fine Woodworking in Seattle, Washington, The Wood Merchant in LaConner, Washington and Appalachian Spring Galleries in the Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA areas.

He has demonstrated bowl turning and spheres at four AAW Symposiums, the Utah Symposium, the Ripon Symposium (England), the Rocky Mountain Symposium, Vancouver BC symposium, and at numerous local chapters. Dale has taught at the John C Campbell Folk School twice. 

Published articles about wood and woodturning appear in the following journals: The American Woodturner, World of Wood, Woodworker West and Woodturning Design. Dale is the past president of the Northwest Chapter of the International Wood Collectors Society. He was a founding member and twice past president of the Cascade Woodturners in Portland, Oregon. He currently serves on the Board of the American Association of Woodturners.
www.finewoodartists.com/gallery/larson/dale_larson.htm

 

Jennifer Shirley

Jennifer Shirley has been working with wood for 15 years and woodturning for 13. Her work has been shown in several national exhibits and publications and is in many private collections. She is a frequent demonstrator at regional woodturning guilds and symposiums around the country. Jennifer teaches at several craft schools and is a member of The American Association of Woodturners. 

Her passion for making turned objects feeds her love for teaching others the art and craft of woodturning. The objects that she makes are reflections of things that she encounters in daily life. Patterns, textures, forms and even music that she is attracted to, seem to appear in and form her work. Using narrative and telling stories with the things that she makes is becoming more and more important to her because the stories of our lives are what connect us all.
www.jenshirley.com

 

 

Ashley Harwood

Ashley Harwood has been an artist from the start, working with neon, glass, performance, installation, and video art. She attended Carnegie Mellon University with a focus in sculpture and Installation art. Ashley currently lives in Charleston, SC. She came to the art of woodturning recently. In 2009, she studied woodturning in North Carolina at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Since then, she has sold her work and demonstrated woodturning weekly at the Charleston Farmer’s Market. She also teaches woodturning at her studio in Charleston and has demonstrated in a number of professional venues throughout the US.

For the past year and a half, Ashley has worked with Stuart Batty, from whom she has learned the “push cut” style of woodturning and a unique, dynamic method of teaching.
Her works are completed entirely on the lathe. She uses simple, classic forms along with distinctive design elements that result in an approachable body of work with a high level of craftsmanship. Her design aesthetic is heavily influenced from her background in glassblowing. Primarily, she makes utilitarian bowls, ornaments, and jewelry.
www.turningnative.com

 

Mark Gardner

Mark Gardner lives and works in Saluda, NC. He has been working with wood since he was a teenager. Since he took his first wood turning class in 1996 with John Jordan he has been working towards the goal of supporting himself through his woodwork. Much of Mark’s turned work is carved and textured once it comes off the lathe. 

His influences include Clay Foster and Kristina Madsen as well as Oceanic and African art and artifacts. Mark has taught at craft schools around the country and has been a demonstrator for many clubs and regional wood turning symposia. His work is found in public collections including the Museum of Art and Design in New York and the Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, North Carolina.
www.markgardnerstudio.com

Points Of Interest

GRAND OLD OPRY
2802 Opryland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214

615-871-OPRY

www.opry.com

BLUEBIRD CAFE
4104 Hillsboro Road, Nashville, TN 37215

615-383-1461

www.bluebirdcafe.com

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME
222 Fifth Ave., S., Nashville, TN 37203

615-416-2001

www.countrymusichalloffame.com

RYMAN AUDITORIUM
116 Fifth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37219

615-889-3060

www.ryman.com

TENNESSEE ART LEAGUE
808 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203-3830

615-736-5000

wwww.tennesseeartleague.org

FRIST CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS
919 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203

615-244-3340

www.fristcenter.org