Most museums caution visitors not to touch the exhibits. Students from the Cabinet & Furniture Making program are encouraged to do just the opposite, however, on their biennial field trips to Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware. This past spring, long-time NBSS Instructor Steve Brown CF '90 led his ninth field trip to the museum, where students spent two days getting an up-close look at objects from what is perhaps the largest collection of American period furniture in the world.
Current Jewelry Making & Repair student Kailey Maraglia JM '21 left a corporate apprenticeship to pursue jewelry making training at NBSS. Though working quickly had been highly valued at her previous job, her first few days in the JM program felt like a dramatic slam on the brakes and a parallel to her time in the Marine Corps. Read how through making a twisted wire ring, Kailey learned "that slowing down was the only way I could really pay attention to the work my hands were doing."
Kyle Bernard PC '16 is the West Coast and Southwest Project Manager at HistoriCorps, a historic preservation organization. After college and service in the Navy, Kyle moved back to Boston and prepared for a legal career. But when he heard actor, comedian, woodworker, and NBSS Board member Nick Offerman describe NBSS at one of his shows, Kyle enrolled in the Preservation Carpentry program shortly after—and never looked back.
NBSS was recently awarded significant funding to restore and repair exterior masonry at its 150 North Street facility. The School occupies a highly visible space at the entryway to Boston's North End neighborhood, and the result of this work will preserve the building's historic appearance for decades to come.
NBSS recently took on a vacant retail space in Boston's Downtown Crossing for a temporary showcase of traditional trades. Offered to NBSS by Historic Boston Inc (HBI)—which owns the Freedom Trail-adjacent site—the small storefront space features demonstrations in bookbinding and woodworking, and will be open through Friday, November 8, 2019.