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<\/a>\u201cI left teaching and went back into my own studio,\u201d says Guenter. \u201cAbout 15 minutes ago I was busy oiling some stools I\u2019ve been making for the exhibition coming up. So I\u2019m back in my own studio building again, as is Cam, as well. We both went back into our own studios, doing what we were doing many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
This exhibition is the latest project Guenter and Russell have worked on after collaborating on a number of curatorial projects and exhibitions over the years, in addition to sharing the their teaching history. Making It<\/i> showcases the work of graduates spanning from the beginning of the program to the latest grad class. \u201cChairs\u201d is a theme that has been used consistently as a final project for Fine Furniture students over the years, so when Russell and Guenter decided to launch this exhibition, adopting this theme yet again seemed like a no-brainer. The two set out with the goal of trying to get someone from each graduating class to build some form of seating.<\/p>\n
According to Guenter, they weren\u2019t quite able to achieve that goal, as a lot of the graduates of the program have gone on to do other things outside of woodworking; however, by doubling up on a couple graduating classes, as well as contributing pieces themselves, Guenter and Russell have been able to secure almost 40 chairs. Current Fine Furniture instructors\u2014including program graduate turned program leader Sandra Carr and tool room attendant Nathan Holder\u2014have also contributed work to the exhibition.<\/p>\n
With so many talented graduates out there, Guenter admits that creating the roster was one of the toughest things they had to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow do you decide? We couldn\u2019t invite everyone, that was almost 500 people,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have room for almost 500, so we had to come up with some sort of criteria.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since the program hands out a number of awards every year, including one for top student and one for top design, the logical choice was to extend an invitation to the recipients of those accolades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were pretty much looking for people who had won one or the other of those awards during the year,\u201d Guenter explains. \u201cThey had proven themselves to be students who had excelled in the program.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of those students is 2018 grad Calvin Sytsma, who was announced as the winner of the current graduating class\u2019 chair competition, giving him the opportunity to join the retrospective.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very shocked about winning,\u201d says Sytsma. \u201cAnd I was very excited that my chair would be going in the exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n Sytsma says that his chair\u2014named \u201cSolid Flexibility\u201d\u2014<\/i>is made of a solid piece of wood that is cut to flex when sat on, giving it ingenuity and a wow factor that landed him in the exhibition.<\/p>\n For Guenter, seeing all these pieces together is one of the things that he\u2019s most proud of when he reflects on his time at Camosun.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go to an exhibition, and some of your graduates are at the exhibition, and the work they do is so amazing, and so much better than anything you\u2019ve done, that\u2019s pretty exciting,\u201d Guenter says with a laugh.<\/p>\n Guenter says that having students become the masters happens all the time. \u201cWe have graduates that come out of the program who have excelled and who are amazing at what they do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n And when those students become successes in the industry, Guenter is rewarded doubly.<\/p>\n \u201cCam and I always say one of our favourite things is when graduates get a hold of us because they need to hire people. That idea of graduates hiring graduates is something we\u2019ve always been very proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n