Grant Helps Newberry Family Continue Chairmaking Tradition Fund for Folk Culture awards grants to 26 traditional artists throughout the United States
Working in their new shop are (left to right) Mark Newberry, Terry Newberry, and Louie Newberry. The family continues one of the oldest craft traditions in Tennessee. Photos: Dean Dixon
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hairmaker Mark Newberry worked out of his grandfather’s former store and chair shop in the Jennings Creek community for many years, but as the business grew it became apparent that the workspace was just too small to house the entire operation. While the old dilapidated shop building was quite colorful, it was just not adequate. The building had poor ventilation, lighting, and heating. Much of the shop activity spilled over into open barn spaces on the family farm, with an old home on the property serving as a showroom and storage space. Then Newberry received a $3,500 grant from the Fund for Folklife Culture last year, to cover a portion of costs for constructing a new facility where he could continue carrying out his family’s 150-year tradition of chairmaking. The grant assisted the Newberry family with creating a new workspace with upgraded wiring and improved safety conditions. Working with his brother, Terry, and his father Louie, Mark feels the new shop is a giant step forward for their family’s craft tradition. “We are glad to have received this grant, and we are especially grateful to Roby Cogswell at the Tennessee Arts Commission for letting us know about this opportunity and encouraging us to apply,” says Mark Newberry. “The new building has so much space. Everything is now in one place, instead of separate buildings. It makes the work much easier and more enjoyable.” Mark, his brother Terry, and their father Louie did all the labor on the new 1300 square foot building. The building is all wood with a metal roof. Being skilled woodworkers and
Old-time aspects of craftwork continue to be used by the Newberry family. Photo: Dean Dixon
craftsmen, they were able to cut costs on the project considerably. And they harvested the poplar timber for the shop from their own land. The family is especially pleased that visitors to the new facility can now view the chairmaking process, and witness the intricate craftsmanship involved.“We didn’t have
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enough room before, now we have room for people “The Newberrys continue to visit the facility,” adds Newberry. “We had over 100 people here the other day that arrived on a tour one of the oldest bus. The tour company may even make this a regular family craft traditions in stop on their annual bus tour. We have also talked Tennessee, going back to about allowing school kids to visit from neighboring schools, so they can watch us work. Of course, we the 1840s. The Fund for would rope off part of the facility so there would be Folk Culture grant, along no safety concerns.” Dr. Robert Cogswell, director of the Tennessee with their own hard work, Arts Commission’s Folklife program, has been aware allowed the Newberrys of the Newberrys and their work since the early 70s. He is impressed by the historical and technical to construct their new aspects of their craftsmanship. “In 1973, I first began building. They are now visiting and documenting Mark’s grandfather Dallas poised to pursue the goal Newberry, who built chairs from 1908 until his death in 1989,” says Cogswell. “Dallas retained an array of of a full-time operation.” essentially preindustrial artistic and work patterns in his chairmaking which set him apart from dozens of Dr. Robert Cogswell other active chairmakers I’ve worked with over the Director of Folklife years in Tennessee and Kentucky. Even today, old- Tennessee Arts Commission time aspects of his craftwork continue to be upheld by Louie, Mark, and Terry. They are very deserving of this grant.” In keeping with a deep characteristic of traditional Appalachian chairmaking, the craft has never been a full-time livelihood, and the Newberrys have also felt pressures that have threatened their farming activity in recent years. “They have remained tenacious, and have always found ways to keep the family craft tradition going,” says Cogswell. “About a year ago, they worked a trade for a huge sawmill, which now allows them not only to harvest chair timber from their own land, but also to derive supplementary income from the sale of pallet and slab wood. Chair income from their Web site has been disappointing, but they have discovered a surprising Internet market among do-it-yourselfers for balls of inner hickory bark for chair bottoming.” According to Cogswell, Mark Newberry has taken on a leadership role in trying to find ways to increase chair orders and expand the shop operation into full-time capacity. “The Newberrys continue one of the oldest family craft traditions in Tennessee, going back to the 1840s. The Fund for Folk Culture grant, along with their own hard work, allowed the Newberrys to construct their new building. They are now poised to pursue the goal of a fulltime operation.” The Fund for Folk Culture awarded grants to 26 traditional artists throughout the United States in the third round of its Artists Support Program. The funding program, underwritten by the Ford Foundation with additional support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The San Francisco Foundation, provides grant support to individual folk and traditional artists to pursue opportunities that will help them grow artistically and professionally, to better connect with their cultural communities or to develop new audiences for their work. The Fund For Folk Culture, based in Austin, Texas, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the dynamic practice and conservation of folk and traditional arts and culture. For more information on the Newberry Chair Shop, visit their Web site: www.newberryandsonschairs.com.