Thread: the State of woodcarving in America today

Dear fellow Carvers,

I am writing a lengthy dissertation on the state of woodcarving in America today, which will be published on my website initially, in whole or in part and may eventually be used for other purposes in the future to benefit the woodcarving community and possibly myself as a fledging professional woodcarver. I would be grateful if you would care to share your views on this subject with me . As a woodcarver your opinion is of the utmost interest to me. I understand the enormous complexities that this topic encompasses and appreciate how valuable your time is and even a sentence or two will be very important to me. Some see woodcarving as a dead or dying art, I disagree. As a now intermediate woodcarver who is considering the commercial viability of the art form in the marketplace, I am finding it difficult to find any information which is geared to the novice woodcarver concerning this subject.
My actual question to you is, In your opinion what is the state of woodcarving in America today? You can approach this question in any way and from any perspective, as an artist, from a marketing or historical perspective or as an observer throughout your career. Again, even a one sentence answer would be very appreciated by me. If you do send a me reply I would like to give you proper credit for this if it is used in any form for viewing by anyone other than me. Please include your name and title, your business name, what type of woodcarving you specialize in, how long you have been carving and whether you are a full time or part time woodcarver.

Who am I and what is my project about?

My name is Maura Macaluso. I live in Staten Island NY. I am the owner of Carvin' in NYC. You can view my website at www.carvinginnyc.com. I began woodcarving 3 years ago after suffering a life-changing injury. An attempt to keep busy and productive turned into my passion. Woodcarving is now the driving force in my life. I now consider myself an intermediate carver who will eventually turn professional(when I get all the kinks out). I am currently a member of the National Association of Woodcarvers, the Staten Island Woodcarvers, the Woodcarvers of Queens, Woodcarvers list, Knotholes list, and the Wood Carvers Porch. I am the New York field editor for Woodworking for Women, and have had articles published in Chip Chats magazine.


My project, The state of woodcarving in America today, started as just an interesting project that I hoped would bring traffic to my new website. The idea was that I, as a novice recently turned intermediate woodcarver, would pass on what I have learned to those new carvers who were considering carving as a possible financial venture. It has turned into so much more. Barely halfway completed, as of today it is now at 30,000 words and it will not be completed for months to come. As a recent novice, I understood the need to get the opinions of professional carvers and those involved in serious carving related endeavors, in an attempt to legitimize my project. This project has raised much interest in the woodcarving community at large and I have received many, many opinions from woodcarvers in all walks of life.
I also highly encourage hobby carvers to answer this question. The hobbiests opinion is one step away from the general publics opinion and will be very helpful to this project.

Please send all replies to [email protected]


Thank You for the taking the time to read this and for any comments you would like to share with me.

maura macaluso
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