North Carolina woodturning symposium in October

The next bi-annual North Carolina Woodturning Symposium will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum from Friday afternoon into Sunday afternoon, October 5-7.

It is expected that about 300 persons from throughout the southeast US will register. The symposium will consist of 63 demonstration periods featuring 5 nationally recognized professional turners and 9 very proficient local turners. There will also be a "vendors' show", an Instant Gallery of turned items submitted by demonstrators and registrants, and a "Hands-on Learning Center" consisting of numerous lathes and instructors. More information can be obtained by visiting http://northcarolinawoodturning. com/.

The Instant Gallery, Vendors' Show, and Hands-on Learning Center are open to the general public, i.e., they do not require paying the registration fee. Anyone who wants to attend the demonstrations must register and pay the registration fee.

The organization presenting the Symposium is the North Carolina Woodturning Symposium, Inc. It was formed by seven North Carolina Chapters of the American Woodturning Association (AAW) after the 2003 Symposium that was held in Statesville. These seven Chapters are listed on the website indicated above. Each member Chapter has one voting member plus one alternate member of the Board of Directors. It is a non-profit organization.

The AAW is an international, non-profit organization

that was formally organized in 1986 and has grown quickly to its current size with 13,008 members in 273 local Chapters. It is the largest organization in the world dedicated to the advancement of woodturning. It has a ninemember volunteer board of directors, a board of advisors, a full-time administrative staff, conference coordinators, and a journal editor.

The mission of the AAW is to provide education,

information, and organization

to those interested

in woodturning--a branch of woodworking centered around using the lathe to shape wood. The results range from the familiar to the profound: everything from decorative and functional bowls, boxes, and vessels furniture and architectural spindles, toys, tools, musical instruments, even sculptural art. Members of the AAW include professionals, amateurs, gallery owners, collectors, and wood and tool suppliers.

You may learn more about woodturning and obtain information for feature articles before the Symposium by visiting one of the area woodturning clubs. Information regarding them is located at http://northcarolinawoodturning.com/members.html.