Mendocino Woodworkers Association

In the mid 70's, Mendocino County, in northern California, was home to numerous craftspeople, the result of multiple waves of "back to the land" immigrants combined with a long-standing attraction to the natural beauty of the place. Mendocino is a large, but relatively underpopulated county, and woodworkers tend to be solitary by the nature of the craft.

In late 1976, cabinet maker Brian Lee called together a few of the already established local woodworkers, Gary Church, Phillip O'Leno, and James Sandburg, among others, to form the Mendocino Woodworkers Association (MWA), as an organization of woodworkers to support and promote each other's work. A general meeting of all interested woodworkers was held. From that and subsequent meetings, by-laws, rules, regulations, officers and goals for the organization were established.

The word spread and membership grew quickly. Membership fees were $10 a month, and each month the members met in a different shop, learning what each shop owner had to share in the way of tools, techniques, supplies and marketing information. A newsletter was established to keep members informed of such things as cooperative wood and hardware buying, special deals on tools, upcoming events and other items of interest.

At the time, the forestry industry focused exclusively on the commercial softwoods, specifically redwood and fir, and treated all the other species as "trash" including many species of local hardwoods. Some MWA members used chainsaw mills to harvest lumber from these local trees, which produced lovely furniture.

The Round Valley Woodwrights, in inland Covelo, set up a fine woodworking shop specializing in the use of the "undervalued" species of native woods, including Tan Oak, Black Oak, Madrone, spalted Pine, and California Walnut, and lumber milled from downfall trees. Examples of furniture, cabinetry and utilitarian crafted items were taken to the State assembly and shown to legislators in hopes of "reversing" the devalued nature of this great resource.

Bulk buying by MWA members eventually encouraged some of the smaller local sawmills to market these species. What began as a struggle by a few dedicated craftsmen to practice their skills and survive in this mechanized, production-oriented society culminated in an 88-member association.

A second MWA goal was the creation of a thriving local market for woodworking. The Mendocino Coast had been an established art market since 1959, when the Mendocino Art Center opened doors in the town of Mendocino. By the 70's there were many other galleries operating in the area, but most were oriented toward the traditional "fine arts" with very few showing any kind of woodworking.

Once the MWA formed, it was quickly recognized that there was a deep body of skill and craftsmanship within the Association. Several of the MWA members had participated in shows elsewhere, and it was decided to host an event in downtown Mendocino, to showcase local woodworking.

In November of 1976, MWA rented Preston Hall, the social meeting hall of the Presbyterian Church in downtown Mendocino, for a 2-day show of the work of 24 MWA members. The quality of work, presented in such a mass, stunned and excited the community. So, MWA held a second show at Preston Hall in May of 1977, with 37 members participating this time. Sales at the first show were modest, with only two pieces selling. However, commercial success grew with increasing awareness of the show. The Presbyterian Church, a non-profit, became concerned their status was at risk. By fall of 1977, MWA needed to find a new location.

In early 1977, MWA member Clyde Jones opened the Artisans Guild Store at the southeast corner of Highways 1 and 20, a little south of Fort Bragg. After Preston Hall, MWA began holding semi-annual shows at the Guild Store.

However, it was eventually felt that the town of Mendocino was a better art market, and the goal became finding a location back in Mendocino. In November 1980, the MWA show was hosted by This Is Not Art, a Mendocino gallery recently opened by Robert Treaster. A set of three outside judges selected winners for Best Joinery, Best Sculpture, Best Use of Local Woods, and Best Piece Under $150, with a Best of Show award determined by popular vote of the public.

The show was an astounding success. The July/August 1981 edition of Fine Woodworking magazine had an extensive article about the show by John Kelsey, which included the cover photograph. Descriptions of the MWA and interviews of the prize winners furthered the reputation of the Mendocino Coast as a woodworking marketplace.

By the spring of 1981, Clyde Jones, also recognizing the market advantage of an in-town location, had moved the Artisans Guild Store to Main Street, Mendocino and renamed Highlight Gallery. MWA began holding their semi-annual shows there.

In 1975, R. O. Peterson, founder of Jack-In-The-Box, began investing in Mendocino properties, including the Mendocino Hotel which he remodeled, and began marketing the Mendocino Coast as a "winter" tourist destination. In 1982, he bought the Heeser House property just north of the hotel as an adjunct for the hotel. Peterson was on the board of directors of the American Craft Council and arranged to have their June annual meeting in Mendocino, one of the first held west of the Mississippi. He offered the Heeser property, to be combined with the Artisans Guild Store, as a venue for a large woodworking exhibit, to be organized by the MWA for their spring show.

MWA extended invitations to other woodworking groups in northern California: the Bolinas Craftsmen’s Guild, the Butte County Woodworkers Association, the Humboldt Woodworkers Society, the Sonoma County Woodworkers Association, the Tahoe County Woodworkers Association, and the West Marin Woodworkers Association.

MWA volunteers helped get Peterson's new property up to show standards and organized the reception and judging of all the woodworking pieces brought by the collected northern California woodworking community. The show opened on May 28, 1982 and ran until June 8. In addition, every gallery in the town of Mendocino was invited to plan a show and opening for the same Friday evening. It was the event of the season.

MWA also laid the foundation for further changes in the local woodworking scene. In early 1978, Brian Lee, Gary Church, and another MWA member went to Santa Cruz to hear Swedish cabinet maker James Krenov give a slide show and lecture. Krenov had published three beautiful books on his decades of fine woodworking, extolling his technique of using hand planes for finish shaping, and his deep esthetic for the feel of the individual pieces of wood he used. While in Santa Cruz, Brian convinced Krenov to add Mendocino to his lecture tour, and a few months later, in July 1978, Krenov gave a two-day seminar for the MWA members in Lee's shop. MWA also organized a well-attended public lecture and slide show by Krenov at Preston Hall in Mendocino.

Krenov had been living and working in Sweden, developing his craft and writing his books. But he was looking for a new location, and wanted to lead a school dedicated to his woodworking philosophy. Brian Lee began working to make that happen on the Mendocino Coast. In the summer of 1979, organized by MWA, Krenov returned from Sweden and gave a four-week workshop, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, at the Mendocino High School, which presented the core of his "tools and techniques" program. The curriculum taught how to make, sharpen, and use wooden hand planes and the basic joints of woodworking: doweling, mortice and tenon, frame and panel, and hand cut dovetails. Students then made a small practice piece using these tools and techniques.

In the summer of 1980, Krenov again returned to the Mendocino High School, repeating the four-week workshop and adding a six-week program for more advanced construction. Krenov brought his wife Britta with him this time, and the conversation proceeded between Brian Lee and Krenov, about founding a school.

College of the Redwood (CR), located in Fortuna, CA, near Eureka, had a satellite campus in Fort Bragg. In the fall of 1980, Clyde Jones and Crispin B. Hollinshead, both with MWA, and Bob Winn, a CR faculty member, made a presentation proposing CR fund a school of fine woodworking in Fort Bragg, build a building specific to the school, and operate it. CR agreed, and the next year was spent making it happen on a site purchased on the northeastern edge of Fort Bragg.

The shop building and all the machine tooling were designed according to Krenov's specific agenda. The program had benches for 22 students, with classes six days a week for nine months. As a community college program, there was reduced tuition for California state residents. Krenov was the main, full-time instructor, aided by Michael Burns and Crispin B. Hollinshead as part-time instructors and Robert Lasso as the full-time shop technician. The three support staff were MWA members. The first class of the College of the Redwoods School of Fine Woodworking arrived in the fall of 1981.

The school has consistently received more applications than spaces available. Each year, a few former students are invited for a second year of more advanced work opportunity. This has resulted in a flood of fine woodworkers being drawn to the community every year, some of whom have stayed after their studies.

The school is still operating, but in 2015 was shifted from College of the Redwoods to Mendocino Community College, and renamed the Krenov School of Fine Woodworking. Students still produce exceptional work, and the entire staff is now comprised of former students of the program. The school has a mid-winter show and an end of year show.

The MWA had achieved the goals that had precipitated its founding. The local woodworkers now knew each other, membership peaked at about 100. Local galleries now showed their work, and the Mendocino Coast is known as a place to find and purchase fine woodworking. While the MWA continued to hold a few semi-annual shows after the 1982 joint show, it eventually dissolved due to lack of need, having succeeded beyond its wildest expectations.