Sponsored by The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains, New Jersey

The Stickley Museum will host a 6-part educational series that considers the broader architectural history of Gustav Stickley, exploring the diverse spaces and places that facilitated his entrepreneurship.

Details- Although Gustav Stickley is most remembered for furniture and furnishings, a central principle of his design philosophy was the creation of harmonious residential environments at the scale of the home itself. He espoused these ideals in his magazine The Craftsman, through his "Home Builders Club," as well as his Craftsman book, disseminating the ideology and design drawings of a progressive home-life built on simple, flexible, and environmentally integrated domesticity. Through these, Stickley became synonymous with the single-family home. Yet Stickley's career and personal life were much more mobile and urban than this narrative would suggest.

Dr. Granger's lectures will examine and hypothesize about how Stickley existed in, reacted to, and shaped buildings ranging from the furniture shop at Auburn State Prison to his factory in Syracuse and his tall building in Manhattan, down to the very infrastructure—train networks, lumberyards, and beyond—that enabled the Craftsman vision. This series will deliver a better understanding of the man, positioning him less exclusively as a visionary Arts and Crafts crusader and more as a businessman and property owner navigating the complex and contradictory terrain of Progressive-era America.

Lecture titles- Convict-Laborer-Craftsman- Stickley's Prison Problem; Factory Made- The Industrial Spaces of Gustav Stickley; The Tall Office Building Craftily Considered- Stickley's Property in Manhattan; The "Lodge" House- Rustic Visions in Suburban New Jersey; The Interlinked Land- Trains and Transit; The Craftsman House Migrates- Workaday Builders, Plan Book Makers, and the Craftsman Legacy.

Dates- October 10, 17, 24 and November 7, 14, 21. All lectures begin at 1p.m. EDT and last approximately one hour.

Learn More- Visit here to read more about the courses and to register for one or all six. Registration fees apply.

Contact- Questions can be directed to Dr. Willa Granger, Associate Curator of Education and Collections, The Stickley Museum, wgranger@stickleymuseum.org.

New 1520-hour diploma program will launch at SBWI's new campus in fall 2027

SBWI (live link- sbwi.edu/news) announces that its new Architectural Carpentry & Preservation Program has received approval from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). The one-year program will provide intensive hands-on training for students interested in preserving, restoring, and creating the architectural elements that give historic buildings their character. The first academic year is scheduled to begin August 30, 2027, with graduation on June 3, 2028. Successful students will earn a Professional Diploma in Architectural Carpentry & Preservation.

Details- The program is designed for students interested in preservation carpentry, finish carpentry, and historic restoration. The two-semester curriculum moves students from foundational woodworking and new construction into advanced preservation practice and fieldwork. The program will be based at SBWI's new campus in Adrian Township, Michigan. The purpose-built campus will provide expanded training facilities for SBWI's career programs and support immersive instruction in architectural carpentry, historic preservation and related skilled trades.

The program will be limited to 18 students. Participants will receive individualized instruction from two lead instructors, supported by a studio or field assistant and SBWI's academic and administrative team. Graduates will be prepared for careers including restoration carpenter, finish carpenter, preservation technician, historic building contractor, architectural millworker, cabinetmaker, historic window and door restoration specialist, and other fields.

Application- Prospective students may apply, request information, or learn more at sbwi.edu/architectural-carpentry-preservation. There is no application fee.

Contact- Questions can be directed to Luke Barnett, President, SBWI, at 517-759-3070 or news@sbwi.edu.