Wood Carving Workshop

Join us in the newly restored Grist Miller’s House on October 11 from 11 AM-1 PM for a hands-on wood carving workshop with master artist Michael Brolly.

In this workshop, choose between carving a gnome or a bird to learn about the basics of wood carving and design. Participants will experience drawing, carving and painting or staining their own wood creations!

No prior experience needed!

What You’ll Learn

• Woodworking in 18th-century Bethlehem and the legacy of Moravian figuringes
• Beginner wood carving and whittling techniques
• How to create a small wood-carved figurine from start to finish using only hand tools
• Beginner woodworking hand tools, their uses and care

About the Artist

Michael Brolly is a woodturning artist known for his mastery of lathe turning techniques. Brolly earned his BFA in Fine Arts from Kutztown University, where he graduated Cum Lade in 1981. He returned to academics in 2007, earning his MFA in Wood/Furniture Design from the University of Massachusetts, enabling him to teach art in university settings.

Brolly discovered lathing techniques while working as a steelworker in college, saying that the discovery was “like the pleasure orb in Sleeper: I just did not want to let go.” Art for him has been grounding, with Brolly noting that “probably the most important thing that art has done for me is to help keep my feet planted firmly in a world of incredible and ever-expanding wonder.”