The Museum for Art in Wood and NextFab are please to announce Henry Merker as the fifth annual Winter Residency Fellow. Launched in 2021, the program is designed for artist based in the Greater Philadelphia region who work in the material of wood with a commitment to sustainable and creative approaches. The residency will run from January 6, through March 6, 2025, and culminates in a solo exhibition at NextFab (1800 N. American Street) on March 13, 2025.
The Winter Residency Program is a collaboration between the Museum and membership-based maker space NextFab. Each year, the two organizations assemble a jury of makers and educators to award one fellowship to an artist in the region who works either solely in wood or other materials in combination with wood and demonstrates technical proficiency with woodworking equipment. The fellow receives a stipend for project materials and access to NextFab’s workshop space. Reflecting the Museum and NextFab’s support of environmental stewardship, reclaimed wood must comprise at least 50 percent of the fellow’s work during the residency.
The Winter Residency Exhibition will go on display at NextFab from March 13 to May 22, 2025. Following the exhibition’s opening, the Museum and NextFab will host an Artist Talk with Fellow Henry Merker on March 14, 2025.
ABOUT HENRY MERKER
Henry Merker (b. 1996) designs experimental home goods in wood using CNC machining and traditional woodworking processes. In his studio practice, Henry playfully leverages these tools in the pursuit of rare shapes – forms that question conventionality and reveal the beauty of wood through its versatility.
In his upcoming residency, Henry will investigate cork – a sustainably harvested wood product – through this lens. By leveraging the material’s unique affinity for both carving and reconstitution, he aims to create a zero-waste collection of design objects.
ABOUT NEXTFAB
NextFab is a network of membership-based makerspaces that provide access to tools, technology, education, events, and services for makers and creatives. They offer a variety of education and startup programs, as well as professional design, production, and placemaking services for whatever your fabrication needs.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM FOR ART IN WOOD
The Museum for Art in Wood is a museum of contemporary art, craft, and design in the material of wood. The Museum presents the work of emerging and established artists from the United States and abroad and offers thought-provoking exhibitions, a permanent collection of over 1,100 objects and works of art, publications and documentation, events and workshops, and a library with over 26,000 artist files, books, and documents that span the history of craft. The Museum also brings artists and researchers from around the world to Philadelphia every year to attend its unique Windgate Artist Residency Program.
If you have questions, please contact Katie Sorenson, Director of Outreach and Communications at [email protected].
Important dates:
Winter Residency: January 6 – March 6, 2025
Residency Exhibition: March 13 – May 22, 2025
Artist Talk: March 14, 2025
2024 Winter Residency Fellow Adam Atkinson
Portrait of Adam Atkinson by Myles Pettengill @myles_standis
Adam Atkinson (he/they) is a Philadelphia-based metalsmith, curator, and educator. They received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studio Practices from Boise State University in 2013 and a Master of Fine Arts in Metal Design from East Carolina University in 2019. Atkinson’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, Blowing Rock Museum of Art and History in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and Nagoya Zokei University in Japan.
Atkinson uses a variety of techniques and materials to explore different narratives in their artistic practice. In their The Orifice Series, they explored the link between the body and nature using metal and wood juxtapositions. Each piece draws upon organic, bodily imagery and fur textures overlaid on carved cherry wood; all carefully handcrafted using repousse, an ancient technique of forming sheet metal, woodcarving, and burning. Atkinson also interrogated the role traditional Ancient Roman busts played as historical markers for powerful figures in his Wood Bust Series. With these works, they questioned the legacies of the figures who have been memorialized through busts, what marks a great achievement in our society, and the role the form and function play in visualizing social structures.
2023 Winter Residency Fellow Michael Ferrin
ABOUT MICHAEL FERRIN
Michael Ferrin is an artist from Southwest Philadelphia. Working primarily in wood, he employs his training as a furniture maker and his education as an artist to explore the connection between spirituality and craft; relationship to place; and how power shapes, and is reinforced by narratives about craft history. Michael’s interests range from the influence of Muslim arts on European medieval design vocabulary to the visual landscape of Philadelphia’s public transit infrastructure. He has recently been incorporating Persian khatam marquetry into his work.
2022 Winter Residency Fellow Robert Aiosa
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- A Fragile State by Robert Aiosa
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ABOUT ROBERT AIOSA
Portrait of Robert Aiosa by Rafael Soldi
Robert Aiosa: Working site-specifically and employing a mix of fine and construction-grade materials with highly detailed carving techniques, Aiosa investigates the built environment and its social, economic, and environmental impacts. Aiosa was born in 1982 in Smithtown, New York and currently lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. He earned his BFA from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia in 2005 and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2015. He joined the staff of renowned print atelier Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida, Tama as its Research Associate and Sculpture Fabricator. His work has been shown through the United States, most recently a solo exhibition at Sanger Gallery, Key West, FL, Skyway 20/21, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg FL, and was included in the 2018 Florida Prize exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art. He has been a recipient of many awards and fellowships including the Vermont Studio Center, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Sculpture Space.
2021 Winter Residency Fellow Colin Pezzano
ABOUT COLIN PEZZANO
Colin Pezzano by DJ Dohar
Colin Pezzano graduated from the University of the Arts in 2014 with a BFA in Crafts. He maintains and relies heavily on craft practices mixed with humor and pathos to define his work. In the spring of 2015 Pezzano had his first solo show, titled Contain You, at Bridgette Mayer Gallery. In 2018, he had his second solo show, Still Life with Dead Game, at the Allen’s Lane Art Center. In 2020, Pezzano worked with the group Past Present Projects on a store-front window installation titled We’ve Never Met. He has also participated in group shows and juried exhibitions, attended residencies in the USA and Sweden, and is a Windgate Fellow. Pezzano maintains his practice in South Philadelphia in his basement studio.Pezzano’s work is defined by craft processes. By carving and shaping material he is able to connect actions and memories to the traditions of his predecessors and contribute to the collective knowledge of making. Since achieving his BFA, Pezzano has worked and taught in many different types of spaces including universities, makers spaces, personal studios, and commercial shops.
