Peters Valley plans new exhibition

LAYTON — Peters Valley School of Craft is planning a new exhibition, Matt Kenney: 52 Boxes in 52 Weeks in the Sally D. Francisco Gallery from Feb. 18 through March 26, with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Professional woodworker and writer Matt Kenney felt his design skills had reached a plateau. He created a challenge for himself because he wanted the repetition of making box after box to push his ideas and technical skills to a higher level. He assigned himself to make one unique box a week for a year culminating in this exquisite exhibition showcasing the results. While maintaining his distinct style and limiting his variety of woods and color palette, Kenney created 52 unique boxes by employing the finer skills needed to create magnificent joinery and variations on this theme.
A selection of boxes are meant to stand alone and others are part of a series that are meant to be displayed together. Each box highlights the tonal qualities and variations of grain naturally found in the woods chosen such as Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Cocobolo, Douglas Fir, Oak and Ash. Many also incorporate a subtle palette of greens, blues or yellow milk paints and one even has polka-dots. Some are lined with a fun and surprising fabric and others are not, but each is created with a particular use in mind such as storing special rings, memorabilia or teas and others are like miniature treasure chests. Kenney’s project mirrors the creative process Peters Valley’s workshops guide artists through, encouraging innovation by allowing oneself to open up, freeing the imagination to travel in unexpected directions. Take a trip through the mind of this artist and his perseverance in pushing his technical and design skills to transform a simple box into 52 unique works of art.
Matt Kenney has made things from wood his entire life. He made his first piece of furniture — a storage box for his wife—15 years ago, in the attic above their duplex. It wasn't much to look at, but making that box awoke a passion for making furniture, a passion that has driven him ever since. He's made a lot of furniture since then, constantly striving to improve his craftsmanship and design. The result of his efforts is furniture that is modern but grounded in the best of classic design, able to sit harmoniously alongside a wide range of furniture styles, and built to survive generations of daily use. When he's not in his shop making furniture, he is the special projects editor at Fine Woodworking (the world's leading furniture making magazine).
Matt’s work has been featured on the cover of the magazine three times and he’s also written several articles for it. Matt teaches a variety of workshops regularly at Peters Valley, and is scheduled to teach a class in Japanese Kumiko on Sept. 2-4.
While this is the first physical showing of Kenney’s 52 Boxes Project, he featured each box as a blog entry on his website. Visit http://www.mekwoodworks.com/52-boxes.html for entertaining details about the ideas and technical aspects of each project.
The Gallery at Peters Valley School of Craft is located at 19 Kuhn Rd., Layton, NJ 07851 and is currently open Thursday until Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.