UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new interdisciplinary student-led exhibition that showcases 17 pieces of furniture designed by students, faculty and alumni from the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School is open on the first floor of the Stuckeman Family Building on the University Park Campus through May 4. All the pieces in “Stuckeman Craft Biennale 001: Sitting Apparatus” were designed and fabricated in the Stuckeman Family Building.  

Over the past several years, students and faculty members have worked in the Stuckeman Shop to design and build sitting apparatus as part of an elective course, independent study or even on their own accord. The work has inadvertently gone unnoticed within the school due to Stuckeman Shop’s location in the basement of the building; however, having built the collection to more than a dozen contributors in both the Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, the exhibition organizers agreed it was time to shine a light on the hard work and innovation being done within the school.

The goal of the exhibition, according to the organizers, is to expose the Stuckeman School community to the potential for igniting design innovation in the Stuckeman Shop.

Organizers of the exhibition are architecture students Esmael Maalej, Andrew Ferreri and John Martin, under the guidance of Istvan Gyulovics, architecture lecturer. Marcus Shaffer, associate professor of architecture, served as the adviser on the project.

The sitting apparatus on display, according to the student organizers, diverge in materials, techniques, sensibilities and skill. Uniting the pieces is a clear passion for design, making and craft. These same qualities are what compelled the exhibit team to gather the work, curate the show and fabricate this exhibition.

“We hope that by witnessing the work of current and past students, the entirety of the Stuckeman School [community] will be inspired to craft a sitting apparatus of their own as they see the fabrication capabilities that we have within our wood and metal shop,” said the organizers. “Ultimately, the hope is that this will be one of many exhibitions displaying craft in the Stuckeman Family Building.”

Stuckeman Craft Biennale 001: Sitting Apparatus is dedicated, in memorial, to Seth Stem, a 1970 landscape architecture alumnus and master craftsman who died in 2018. Stem also held a master of fine arts in furniture design from Virginia Commonwealth University.