Beginnings
The main reason for officially incorporating the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association was to put on the Design in Wood Exhibition (DIW) at the San Diego County Fair. And a big part of why SDFWA qualifies as a 501(c)(3) organization is the educational component of SDFWA’s mission. Design in Wood has been an important part of our outreach and public education activities right from the very beginning.
The first DIW coordinators were Lynn Rybarczyk and Chuck Masters. In 1982 there were 35 SDFWA members who entered 100 woodworking pieces for judging. The jury selected 45 for display in the first Exhibition. The first four years all the entries were from SDFWA members. The first four awards – Best of Show, Best Contemporary, Best Traditional, and Best Turning – expanded to five categories by adding Design / Craftsmanship awards, plus first and second place prizes were awarded. Then, as we still tell people today, it is an honor just to be selected for the Exhibition.
Fine Woodworking magazine covered the first exhibition with a multi-page spread; this and other publications helped launch Design in Wood as a premier woodworking event. This reputation has only grown in the subsequent 38 years.
Exhibition Awards and Activities
In 1986 Patrick Edwards took over the coordinator’s role and would guide Design in Wood for 9 years. The partnership with the Fair was expanded, with the awards and judging merged into the Fair entry and award systems. Woodworking entries were accepted from the general public – not just SDFWA members. During Pat’s tenure the number of award classes was expanded, and many of the activities associated with Design in Wood were initiated.
In 1987 SDFWA started our on-going practice of supporting woodworking students by awarding scholarships to outstanding woodworkers in the student displays at the Fair. Plus the chair shop with its demonstrations of traditional hand-tool woodworking making 50 child-sized chairs for charity donations started in 1988. The chair was designed by Pat, patterned after an antique piece.
Inspired by the Americas’ Cup races held in San Diego, the Sponsor’s Choice perpetual trophy was designed and created by Bob Stevenson. Pat had managed to increase the number of entries by 50% to 185 with total cash prize money of $2,950. Special awards from DIW sponsors were also added to the growing list of prizes, pushing the total to over $4000 by 1990. Entry classes included Contemporary, Traditional, Fantasy Furniture (Art Furniture), Made for Children, Models, Clocks, Musical Instruments, Turning, Wood Carving – Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, plus special awards for SDFWA members, sponsor awards, the Fair theme award, and the Coordinator’s award.
In 1992, the Design in Wood demonstrations during the Fair expanded to include the San Diego Carvers Guild and the San Diego Woodturners. All the live demonstrations are very popular with Fair attendees, and showcase many different aspects of woodworking. Early demonstrations included the Case brothers carving a carousel horse, Pole Lathe turning by bodger Don Weber, and Windsor Chair making by Bob Stevenson.
As Design in Wood has evolved, the talent pool from which entries are drawn has grown from just SDFWA members, to SD county residents, to California residents, and now national and international entries. This has expanded the variety of woodworking that is on display each year. Every show is different, and we are always amazed at what new entries come through the door each year.
Growing National Stature
During DIW’s early years, the Fair operated with the idea that there should be fresh changes each year, so the Design in Wood Exhibition was staged in several different locations around the Fairgrounds. This made planning and setup a little more challenging.
Bob Stevenson assumed the coordinator’s duties in 1995 and led the Design in Wood Exhibition for the next 20 years. Starting in 1998, DIW settled into its current location in the Mission Tower Building, making things easier for the crew putting on the exhibition. All the display platforms and walls, plus the demonstration booths were designed by Bob. They fit into the exhibit space, use knock-down hardware to allow them to be assembled and disassembled for each year’s Fair, and include custom, rolling storage dollies. An SDFWA work crew built these in conjunction with the SD Maritime Museum at their B Street pier location. Like most of the DIW furnishings, the Fair paid for materials while SDFWA provided woodworking expertise and labor.
Another improvement during this time period was building new lighted display cabinets to replace the ones that were very tedious to assemble. In 2004 an SDFWA work crew constructed about 20 cabinets at Palomar College – these rolling cabinets are used to showcase the smaller woodworking entries – including carvings, turnings, models and scroll-saw work – both for DIW and the Palomar CFT exhibit. In addition many similar cabinets were built for use in the Home and Hobby section of the Fair. There has continued to be a great partnership between the Fairgrounds and SDFWA.
Bob also convinced more sponsors – both local businesses and national woodworking publications – to support DIW. These entities donate cash and merchandise for special awards like Best Craftsmanship, Excellence in Design, Best Use of Urban Lumber, Best Finishing, and the prestigious Best of Show. Local woodworking guilds also donate awards that are specific for their members who enter the exhibition.
Most of the judging is done by a panel of experts, and donated awards are often judged by a sponsor’s representative. A Fine Woodworking magazine editor has traveled to San Diego to judge the Best of Show award each year. Judging is one of the things that sets Design in Wood apart and contributes to the exhibition’s reputation.
However, the People’s Choice Awards – sponsored by Woodworker West magazine – are determined by votes of attendees at DIW. The ballots are collected each day and tallied, and the winners are determined at the end of the Fair. The most popular People’s Choice award was for Aldimere – a near life-sized sculpture of a lion. This entry received thousands of votes – more than any other people’s choice award before or since. An aside – these ballots are the only way we can (just roughly) estimate how many people might be attending the Design in Wood Exhibition.
One of the memorable theme displays was in 2012 – Out of This World. Bob drew upon his previous experience working with NASA and put together a multi-faceted theme display. He brought in some astronaut artifacts and put together multiple videos showcasing past and future aspects of the US manned space flight programs. The Fair recognized Design in Wood that year with a theme award for exhibits.
Design in Wood history will continue in Part 2…
Jeff Bratt
SDFWA Historian