2022 NWA Showcase and Totally Turning

[stolicky]

I have done a mass upload of pictures from over the weekend. My two daughters and I had most of the pens in the instant gallery. There is lots to see for other turning and flat boarding. It was nice to have the events again after cancelling for two years. Enjoy.

2022 NWA Showcase and Totally Turning

Explore this photo album by stolicky on Flickr!

flic.kr

 

[KMCloonan]

Wow! I have never seen so many great works of art in one place. Amazing. Thank you for sharing!

 

[jttheclockman]

We use to have shows like this in my area but it got too expensive to put them on over the years. Have to say I loved every minute of scrolling through these well done photos. I would have enjoyed the daylights out of visiting that show. So many creative pieces of art in all forms of crafts. Walking through shows like that just gives me inspiration and gets the juices flowing. That is one reason I loved going to and doing craft shows for over 35 years. Just seeing what the human eye sees and lets the hands do the work is brilliant. Many thanks for the tour and putting that together.

Happen to see old Barry there selling his pen stuff. That guy goes to all shows around the country. Amazing.

 

[KMCloonan]

I was amazed at the sheer variety of things - from stringed instruments to mica lamps (which I am very partial to), to sculpture, canoes, tables, pens, and so much more. I would have loved to spend a day or two at a show like that.

 

[Wmcullen]

Thanks for posting this. What a treat/education!
Cullen

 

[LouCee]

Wow, that's a lot of nice work!

 

[montmill]

Some very creative people. Inspirational. Perhaps a sticky so we could come back to it? Lots to take in. Thank you for all the time and effort and for sharing with us.

 

[NJturner]

Thank you for the great picture show!! I had heard reports that the symposium was not heavily attended this year. I went to Totally Turning the year before covid came into play and you often couldn't get into the smaller room sessions because there was just that many people. How did you find it this year?
I also really enjoyed the flatwork show running at the same time as the turning symposium - glad to see they are still doing that. I miss the bigger shows that we used to have in our area - but I am hoping the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Woodturning Symposium in September in Lancaster, PA might be a good one. info here - www.mawts.com. Not as large as Totally Turning, but a good event.

 

[monophoto]

The venue where this show is held is about a 15 minute drive from my house, so I've been attending for many years. Most years I've gone to the demonstrations, but I opted to not do that this year - wife and I are being fairly cautious about when and how we mingle with crowds. The list of demonstrators looked good, and there were several that I would have enjoyed - perhaps next year I will feel more comfortable in the demonstration rooms.

So I only went to the showcase and vendor portions of the program, and I also got the sense that the crowd was much smaller this year. And frankly, that's not a great surprise. Again, my sense is that wood workers tend to be older, and us geezers tend to be a bit cautious about crowds.

After the show in 2019, I posted here that I had noticed a downward trend in the number of vendors who support this show, and that trend was dramatically evident this year. Something that isn't apparent in the photos unless you are a regular attendee is that the display of turned work had been moved from its traditional location in the hotel lobby to an area that historically was occupied by vendors. Even long-time supporters like Curtis Lumber chose to not participate this year.

On the other hand, there was a very significant improvement this year in parking. Parking has always been a major problem in Saratoga Springs - it's a fairly small town that has an extremely busy downtown, and finding a place to park has always been a challenge. During the pandemic, the surface parking lot behind the City Center was replaced by a multi-story parking garage.

But even with that improvement, there was a parking problem during a portion of Saturday. One of the the regular annual mid-winter events in Saratoga Springs in Chowder Fest. This event traditionally has occurred in early February, and attracts 40,000 people or more. This year, a decision was made to postpone it to late March - which conflicted with the NWA Showcase/Totally Turning. So even with the new garage, parking was complicated for a few hours in the middle of the day, but at least attendees had a great option for lunch!

The quallity of the work on display was excellent. This show attracts some really amazing crafts people. And hats off to the folks who work so hard to get this show organized every year.

 

[NJturner]

Thanks for your comments Louie! Your thoughts on how you approached the show were similar to mine - I would have gladly went to the vendor areas and the flatwork exhibits but sitting in a classroom environment filled with a bunch of people still gives me pause. Unfortunately for me the hike is closer to 3 hours or so each way, which is a bit far of a day trip for me even for a great bowl of chowder! When I was reviewing the pics, I was surprised the vendor area and gallery area were merged. In years past, the vendor displays of wood and tools pretty much filled the room, whereas these pics looked like the vendors were simply around the outer perimeter. Sadly, I think the larger traveling vendor shows in the woodworking space are a thing of the past - and I miss having the learning opportunity these shows provided (although my wallet hasn't been screaming as much at me....lol).

 

[MPVic]

Chris:
Thank you doesn't express my feelings about what you have captured in these photos. It's almost like being there; you did an excellent job on the photos. Thank you so much for taking the time to share.

 

[stolicky]

Thank you, all. I have taken these pictures for years and am happy to share.

I will note the turn out for TT was in the 170-180 range, and we filled the hotel block. Historically, decent years landed in the 220+ range. I do not have the statistics on the Showcase part. It was very nice to see a respectable sized crowd as we are all cautiously coming out of a pandemic. Louis, sharing the large Vendor space with the TT Instant Gallery worked well this year because it avoided the need to pay for 24/7 security in the public atrium. That is a large expense for the club. Yes, some vendors were understandably risk-adverse this year. I think fuel costs also impacted vendors that have to travel carrying a lot of heavy items. Some waited until the last minute to decide if they were coming. And, yep, Chowderfest definitely made Saratoga crowded!

What is amazing is that both Showcase and TT are entirely run by volunteers! There are 100's of people that fill important roles, and the shows would not happen without them.

 

[mark james]

I took the IAP Collection to TT in 2016. It....Was...Awesome!!

The venue, demos, displays, vendors was very impressive. I was most struck with the artistry in the display hall. So much wonderful woodwork! We as (mostly penturners) craftsman/women, we can become shielded from other avenues to express our love of wood/wood projects. Walking through the TT displays in 2016 was a very touching experience!