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Aspen Golann

She // Her // Hers, They // Them // Theirs

Woodworker

Rollinsford, New Hampshire

A smiling person with long reddish-brown hair sits at a wooden workbench with a tiny orange-and-white kitten on the table in front of them. Woodworking tools neatly arranged on the wall behind the pair.

Photo by Tom Condon.

I use inlay, marquetry, glass enameling, and other traditional woodworking methods to create contemporary pieces that both critique and celebrate the history of American decorative arts.”

Aspen Golann is a furniture maker, artist, and educator whose work explores gender and power through iconic American furniture forms. Trained in 17th–19th century woodworking, Golann merges traditional techniques with contemporary themes in both fine furniture and sculpture. In 2020, she founded The Chairmaker’s Toolbox, an initiative aimed at creating pathways for marginalized makers into traditional craft practices and promoting access and equity in the field of chairmaking.

Golann is a professor of furniture design at the Rhode Island School of Design, holds a degree from the North Bennet Street School, and teaches craft workshops internationally, focusing on the intersection of traditional hand-tool woodworking, American decorative arts, historical research, and inclusive teaching methods.

She has received support for her work from Windgate Foundation; Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library; the Center for Craft; and others. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2023 Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Craft and the John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship from the Society of Arts + Crafts. She is also a member of the 2023 Teaching Artist Cohort at the Center for Craft.

In addition to her creative practice, Golann serves on the boards of A Workshop of Our Own, The Furniture Society, and the Society of Arts + Crafts. She is a regular contributor to Fine Woodworking and lives and works in Southern New Hampshire.

Donor -The 2025 USA Fellow award was generously supported by Anonymous. The Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft are supported by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 01.30.2025

A comb-back settee, a long bench with a back on it, with detailed flourishes painted a dark green with a milk paint finish.

Comb-back Settee by Aspen Golann. White oak, hard maple, eastern white pine, milk paint finish.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

A broom stick whose handle starts multiplying like branches on a tree, extending into five broom heads.

Group Work by Aspen Golann. Hard maple, brass, broomcorn, waxed linen.

Photo by Kate Benson.

A wooden display cabinet whose decorative doors have oval-shaped window panes that alternate between clear glass and brown colored glass. The clear glass has been painted with a black-and-white scene, a close-up of two figures shown only around the pelvis area. Each figure holds a bundle of cloth, as the excess cloth drapes between them.

A Partially Draped Cabinet by Aspen Golann. Mahogany, hand-enameled glass, brass hardware.

Photo courtesy of the artist.