Massachusetts’ furniture maker awarded Mineck Fellowship

The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston announced Jack Mauch is this year’s Mineck Foundation Furniture Fellow. The $25,000 award acknowledges an individual’s talent and skill in furniture making, exploration and growth of new ideas, and the importance of a community that supports each other. 

Mauch recently packed up his studio in Allston, Mass., to prepare for his upcoming residencies, including a Studio Fellowship at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship and a Windgate ITE Residency at the Center for Art in Wood. 

The Society says that, in his application, Mauch thoughtfully detailed the ways the fellowship can fund three interrelated goals that would have an immediate and long-term impact on his career: to buy equipment that is necessary for his continued growth and independence; to undertake a course of study in digital fabrication technology; and to dedicate a period of time to the development of his current work that focuses on patterned veneer surfaces by exploring the possibilities focusing 3D modeling and CNC milling to aid in veneering compound-curved forms and complex geometry. 

“The research that I will undertake is of interest to many woodworkers and furniture makers, and I am committed to documenting and presenting the results of this study to the field at large through a blog, video, article, presentation or a combination these. I will also seek to teach a course or workshop to share any new techniques I develop as a result of my research,” Mauch wrote. 

The John D. Mineck Foundation was formed in 2007 to award charitable and educational gifts reflecting Mineck’s interests and values. Mineck was a past president of the Society’s Board of Trustees and a member of Boston’s cultural community. The fellowship was developed to encourage and support a youngin-career furniture artist with the financial assistance to help them succeed. 

For more, visit www.societyofcrafts.org.