PORT TOWNSEND — Fancifully carved ornaments, robust furniture and ornate musical instruments constructed of the finest wood will be on display this weekend during the 11th annual Port Townsend Woodworker’s Show.
The show will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the American Legion Hall, 209 Monroe St.
Entry to the event is free both days, although donations are accepted at the door.
The purpose of the show is to highlight the woodworking talent in Port Townsend and the surrounding area, and to provide an informal venue in which the public and craftspeople can come together to view and discuss the art and craft of woodworking, said John Marckworth, The SplinterGroup founder, over the phone this week.
On Saturday, the event coincides with Port Townsend Gallery Walk, which occurs the first Saturday of every month from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
During Gallery Walk, art galleries and venues in the downtown waterfront district show off the work of local artists while encouraging participants to explore the many nooks and crannies of the town’s historic center.
“We are right there at the end of the street, so we are right there in the mix,” Marckworth said.
“It is a good representative sampling of the [region’s] woodworkers,” he said.
The SplinterGroup is a nonprofit organization that organizes the annual show, Marckworth said.
About 26 wood artists are participating in the show this year, Marckworth said.
“It is a great way for the community to meet the woodworkers [and] to get an idea of the different kinds of woodworking,” he said.
“There is a broad spectrum of different kinds of work. It is just wonderful to see the work. The Pacific Northwest has a real connection with wood, and wood products and wood artists.”
The Port Townsend and Chimacum High School woodworking programs usually exhibit as well, as do students from the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, Marckworth said.
There will be many varieties of wood on display, Marckworth said.
“It just depends on what people are working on,” he said.
“There is sometimes an emphasis on trying to use locally sourced woods from the Northwest, but that is not a requirement.”
The show has become an eagerly anticipated event in Port Townsend, Marckworth said, with people coming from the greater Seattle area and British Columbia as well as the Olympic Peninsula to attend.
“We usually have 1,200 to 1,800 attendees over the weekend,” Marckworth said.
For more, visit www.splintergroup.org.
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Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at cmcdaniel@ peninsuladailynews.com.
Finely craft wood pieces, such as this instrument by Rob Niclas, will be on display at the annual Port Townsend Woodworker’s Show this weekend.
This year’s Port Townsend Woodworker’s Show will be held Nov. 5-6. Shown is a wooden owl created by Stan Rill.
