Woodworking
Learn the Techniques to Make Your Vision Come to Life
Explore the art of shaping raw materials into functional and aesthetic creations. Blending traditional techniques with modern innovation, you will learn the importance of precise craftsmanship in our woodworking studio, sourcing wood from our 240-acre campus and learning how to use hand and power tools to build your own creations.
Meet Your Teacher
Lauren Verdugo
Lauren Verdugo joined the George School faculty in Fall 2024 as the school's fifth Woodworking Teacher and an Upper Drayton Dorm Parent. Lauren's first experience at George School was in January 2024 as part of the school's Visiting Artist Series, showcasing their exhibit, Invasive Configuration, and guest teaching in both the Woodworking and Ceramics and Sculpture classes.
They received their formal training from master craftsman Larry White, who was the first employee of Sam Maloof, a renowned 20th-century studio art furniture designer and MacArthur Genius recipient. Lauren obtained their BA in Applied Design from San Diego State University and regularly taught at Allied Woodshop, Would Works, and the Maloof Foundation on the West Coast. Lauren's work blends sculpture and sustainability while exploring the interplay between us and nature as well as their identity as a non-binary woodworker.
Woodworking
Anatalia Cambridge '24
Neve McAllister '24
Axton Berry '24
Sean Renshaw '24
Jake Whent '24
Andrew Garrett '24
Calvin Gibson '24
Emilio Pellegrini '23
Woodworking Courses
ARV168A: AP Art History / ARV160A: Art History
The class exposes students to visual art history and provides an opportunity to delve into meaningful research. The course is organized into historical units from prehistoric times to the present. Skills taught include visual analysis, contextual analysis, comparison of artwork, artistic traditions, attribution of unknown work, “visual” art historical interpretations and challenges, and argumentation.
ARV610A: Woodworking & Design
In the introductory mod of this course, students learn how to work with and maintain a variety of traditional hand woodworking tools. Each student designs and builds a small box using traditional joinery techniques. In subsequent mods, students also learn to use power tools safely and to design and build an original piece of furniture. The class includes trips to museums, local studios, and the Philadelphia Furniture Show.
ARV610D: Advanced Woodworking & Design
Students in this course will apply the skills they learned in the previous year and continue to pursue the craft of designing and building original furniture. Drawings, scale model making, and in some cases the use of SketchUp and other online drawing programs are used to help pull the design into a working form. Students then source the appropriate materials for the piece and the building process begins. By the end of the course, students have finished their piece of furniture.
ARV640A: Functional Art & Design
This course is about creative problem-solving in three dimensions as students consider the design and construction challenges and opportunities that arise when combining fine art and function. Students design, sculpt, cast, carve, and fabricate one-of-a-kind objects in wood, metal, and mixed media, and, while working in the wood and sculpture studios, use emerging technologies to express original ideas.