Women of Would Works Featured at The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia
Would Works is proud to be participating in the group show Making a Seat at the Table: Women Transform Woodworking curated by Laura Mays and Deirdre Visser at The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia this Fall.
Did you know that the majority of Would Works artisans are women? We have a strong referral partnership with the Downtown Women's Center who have sent more than thirty of their women through the Would Works program in the last couple years.
Like many women, most of our female artisans had not considered woodworking as a viable employment path. “This is not a thing women usually do,” says Shirley (below), whom we met at an outreach event at the Downtown Women's Center. “I never would have thought about doing Would Works if they hadn’t approached me.” Thanks to the Ticket to Work program, Shirley has been able to stay on as a Would Works artisan for a year and has become a natural leader on the shop floor. "I love my job!...I love making things!" she says.
The store at The Center for Art in Wood will be featuring and selling the various wood homewares that these women make at our weekly workshops.
Many Would Works supporters and volunteers are participating artists as well, so please stop by and enjoy the show!
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Nick Offerman Partners with Would Works to Empower At-Risk Angelenos Through Woodworking
Nick Offerman has partnered with Would Works, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that teaches woodworking skills to at-risk Angelenos. These skills can lead to careers in industries like construction, set-building, and carpentry.
Beyond woodworking, Offerman highlights the “incredibly benevolent and warm humanism” at the heart of Would Works. "We're giving people … mental health, counseling, job counseling, life coaching. It's a place to say, 'Come on in, I see you, I care about you, I recognize the trouble you might be having. Here's a sandwich, here's a bowl of soup. Now, this is a hand plane,'" Offerman said.
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