Just as Milwaukee retreats indoors to seek warmth and comfort, Grove Gallery in Walker’s Point will unveil “Forms of Support,” a show of fine furniture by Milwaukee artists Christopher Brooks, Brent Budsberg, Delia Lopez, and Matthew Gramling. Reimagining the gallery’s historic space as a furniture salon, visitors can interact with the most current offerings from the artists, each with a varied approach to woodworking and design.

All the artists in the show belong to Table Saw Supper Club, a group of nearly 50 local woodworkers who gather at each other’s studios. Started twelve years ago by Gramling, the group offers woodworkers a platform to discuss their latest projects and exchange advice and resources. The Table Saw Supper Club is a much-needed resource as the career of woodworkers is often a lonely one. The group not only uplifts psyches with community support, but also fosters meaningful exchange about the current state of the woodworking industry and individual challenges.

“As an exhibit, ‘Forms of Support' offers both literal interpretations and more conceptual ideas of comfort,” said Gallery Manager Adam Beadel. “Budsberg creates attractive forms rendered in simple and accessible plywood, Gramling enlarges and celebrates the deceptively simple craft of joinery, and Lopez bends wood into unexpected arches to form the graceful legs of her standing case.”

Show Opening: Friday, November 21, 5:00-9:00pm
Show Closing: Saturday, December 20, 12:00-4:00pm
Grove Gallery is open all other Saturdays during the exhibit run 12:00-4:00pm

All the work in the exhibition is for sale, and commissions of new work from the artists are welcome.

About the artists:

Brent Budsberg is an artist, woodworker, and exhibition designer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He runs Current Projects, a design and fabrication studio whose clients include the Chipstone Foundation, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Oriental Theater. With his wife and collaborator, Shana McCaw, he creates interdisciplinary projects that blur boundaries between craft, design, and fine art. Recent furniture commissions include work featured in “Frank Lloyd Wright: The Modern Chair” at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, as well as a sideboard inspired by George Mann Niedecken for the Niedecken-designed Demmer House on Milwaukee’s East Side. His current plywood furniture series explores planar geometry and modernist influences, drawing inspiration from artists and designers such as Russel Wright, Georgia O’Keeffe, Donald Judd, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Delia Lopez is a furniture maker, artist, and educator based in Milwaukee, WI. Her work balances curiosity and functionality, believing furniture should bring a sense of delight to a space. The high level of craftsmanship in her furniture invites a tactile relationship of daily use, while Lopez’s greater goal remains presenting objects not previously seen. She owns and operates Domo Fine Furniture, a two-fold business where one wing specializes in freestanding object furniture, and the other focuses on comprehensive woodworking classes meant to teach furniture-making from the ground up.

Christopher A. Brooks is an artist and woodworker specializing in fine, handcrafted furniture, architectural pieces, and architectural restoration, with an emphasis on unique design and alternative finishing methods. He currently lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Matthew Gramling is a furniture designer and fabricator who lives with his family in the Cold Spring Park neighborhood of Milwaukee. He works predominantly on custom commissions in both residential and commercial settings. His furniture is a blend of modernist lines, experimental finishes, and collected live-edge wood pieces, focusing on attainability, materials of abundance, and midwestern economic feasibility.