Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Resume of Michael Coffey, Sculptor

Michael Coffey
141 Old Stage Road
W. Hatfield, Massachusetts 01088
Tel.: 413-247-3119


Experience and qualifications summary

Furniture-making and sculpture
· Designed and produced one-of-a-kind furniture and sculpture since 1967
· Executed over 200 commissions for private and corporate clients, institutions, galleries and designers during this period
· Exhibited in over 100 shows in galleries, museums and craft expositions
· Served as a juror judging show entries for several major art and craft exhibitions

Teaching and school administration
· Organized and administered two woodworking schools functioning over a total period of 8 years · Provided one-on-one training for over 20 furniture-making apprentices in one to two year sessions
· Conducted numerous workshops for woodworkers illustrating my work and offering training in my techniques

Community organization and political action
· Worked as a professional community organizer from 1950 – 1961 in Mexico and various urban settings in the United States
· Served as a volunteer organizer and political activist in my own community in Massachusetts from 1997, working on problems of community planning and land conservation

Administration, grant-writing and program development
· Served as executive director of a community action program in Stamford, Connecticut funded in 1966 by the Office of Economic Opportunity.
· Worked from 1961 to 1972 as a community action consultant to various neighborhoods in New York City and towns in Massachusetts, helping them to raise funds and set up programs in housing, job training and education
· Wrote and received grants to set up a program to train and place laid off workers with architectural woodworking firms

Avocational interests and skills
· Foreign languages: studied eight languages, reaching fluency in two: Spanish and Russian
· Building trades: learned carpentry, electrical work, plumbing and masonry in the course of renovating four personal residences and building one new one.
· Archaeology: took a course in archaeology at the University of Massachusetts in 2001 and participated in a 2 month archaeological dig in Russia in 2002


Education and work history

Education
1950 Bachelor of Arts, New York University - Major: Psychology
1953 Master of Social Science Administration, School of Applied Social Sciences, Western Reserve University - Major: Group Work

Work experience
1950-51 Volunteer Community Organizer, American Friends Service Committee, Xochimilco, Mexico
1953-55 Psychiatric Social Work Technician, United States Army, Fort Lewis, Washington
1955-57 Group Worker, Norfolk House Centre, Roxbury, Massachusetts
1957-59 Community Organizer, Hudson Guild, New York, N.Y. Responsible for stimulating participation by Spanish-speaking residents in a broader community council
1959-61 Community Organizer, New York Community Council. Set up a demonstration program of citizen participation in New York City’s first, full-scale, urban renewal area.
1961-64 Community Action Consultant, Citizens Housing and Planning Council, New York, N.Y. Advised neighborhood citizens groups on housing and planning problems.
1964-65 Community Action Consultant, Basic Systems Inc. New York, N.Y. Provided technical assistance to various Massachusetts communities, helping them to develop anti-poverty programs with funds from the Office of Economic Opportunity.
1965-66 Executive Director, Committee on Training and Employment, Stamford, Connecticut. Wrote grants and received funds from the Office of Economic Opportunity to set up programs in job training, education and social welfare.
1966-72 Community Action Consultant, Strycker’s Bay Community Action Project New York, N.Y. Provided technical assistance to a project funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity designed to train low income people to set up their own neighborhood service centers.
1967 - Furniture-maker and sculptor. Working in my own studios in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts and employing up to 4 employees and apprentices, produced original furniture and sculpture of my own design for exhibition or by commission.
1976-82 Teacher and school administrator, Poultney, Vermont. Founded, operated and acted as principal teacher in the Michael Coffey School of Fine Woodworking, a two year, full-time, professional training program in furniture-making for up to 6 students. .
1981-93 Teacher/lecturer Ran workshops for woodworkers illustrating and teaching my style and techniques of furniture construction in Dartmouth College, the Worcester Craft Center, Leeds Design Workshops, Peters Valley Craft Center, the Brookfield Craft Center and the Woodworking Shows.
1994-96 Founder and Director, One Cottage Street School of Fine Woodworking (now The New England School of Architectural Woodworking), Easthampton, Mass. Working with the Division of Continuing Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst , organized a curriculum of evening classes and week-end workshops in a variety of woodworking subjects for the public. With funding from the Hampden County Training and Employment Consortium, developed a full-time, 9 month training and job placement program in architectural woodworking for laid off workers from other industries.
1992-98 Part-time Community Organizer, Lutheran Child and Family Services and the New American Russian Speaking Association, Springfield, Mass. Worked with Russian-speaking immigrants on problems of housing and job training.
1998 - Volunteer Community Organizer in Hatfield, Mass.
Highlights:
· Member, Hatfield Master Plan Committee
· Co-organizer, the 5&10 Coalition, a citizens group spanning two towns, mobilized to stop the construction of a local Home Depot branch
· Co-founder and Hatfield delegate to the Greater Mill River Coalition, a quasi-public organization, dedicated to planning and promotion of land conservation over a 5 town area
· Founder and current chair of the Hatfield Open Space Committee, set up to write a state-mandated Open Space Plan for the town and to follow up its recommendations.


Exhibitions

Christie's 20th Century Art & Decorative Design, New York, NY - 2005-06
Sotheby's, Important 20th Century Design, New York, NY - 2003-06
Rago Arts and Auction Center, Lambertsville, NJ - 2002-07
Philadelphia Furniture Show, Philadelphia, PA - 1995-96
Crafts Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA - 1993
Crafts Park Avenue, The Armory, New York, NY - 1992-95
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA - 1991
ACC Craft Fair, Baltimore, MD - 1989-93
American Craft at the Armory, New York, NY - 1987-91
Stratton Arts Festival, Stratton, VT 1979, 1983-84
ACC Craft Fair, W. Springfield, MA - 1984-90
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE - 1976, 1983
Northeast Craft Fair at Rhinebeck, NY - 1976-83
Bennington Art Museum, Bennington, VT - 1982
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC - 1982
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO - 1982
Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY - 1982
Brockton Art Museum, Brockton, MA - 1981
League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Manchester, NH - 1978, 1981
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA - 1981
Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, NY - 1980
Philadelphia Craft Show, Philadelphia, PA - 1980
International Craft Show, Coliseum, New York, NY - 1979
Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY - 1979
Newport Art Association, Newport, RI - 1979
J. M. Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI - 1978
Marietta College Crafts National, Marietta, OH - 1975-78
Designer Craftsmen Guild, Fort Wayne, IN - 1976
Artist Craftsmen of New York, NY - 1967–74
American Crafts Council, New York, NY - 1972-73
Worcester Craft Center, Worcester, MA - 1972-73
University Art Gallery, SUNY at Binghamton, NY - 1971
Stamford Museum, Stamford, CT - 1970


Gallery affiliations

America House, New York, NY
Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
Carlyn Gallery, New York, NY
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Cooper & French, New port, RI
The Craftsman’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
Del Mano Gallery, Pasadena, CA
Detroit Gallery of Contemporary Crafts, Detroit, MI
The Elements, New York, NY
Frog Hollow Craft Center, Middlebury, VT
Gallery 10, New York, NY
Hawkins House, Bennington, VT
Kaleidoscope, Hanover, NH
Kornbluth Gallery, Fairlawn, NJ
Lee Nordness Gallery, New York, NY
The Makers Gallery, New York, NY
Mendelson Gallery, Washington Depot, CT
Pritam & Eames, East Hampton, NY
Salmon Falls Gallery, Shelburne Falls, MA
Sign of the Swan, Philadelphia, PA
Signature Gallery, Chestnut Hill, MA
Skera Gallery, Northampton, MA
Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, MA
Tennyson Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Todd Merrill Antiques, New York, NY
Verbena Gallery, New York, NY
Westlake Gallery, White Plains, NY
Wit Gallery, Lenox, MA


Reviews

Union News, Springfield, Mass. June 1987 - Article on my work: “Capturing Organic Forms”, Aranow
The Advocate Summer Guide, Sept. 1986 - Review of show, Tennyson Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Newsday, Sept. 1983 - Review of show, Pritam & Eames, East Hampton, NY.
Antiques & Collectibles, Jan. 1983 - Article: “The Chippendales of Our Time” by Susan Heymann House & Garden, Feb. 1983 - Article: “Can Craft be Art?” by Lee Hall
New York Times, Dec. 1982 - Review of show, Kornbluth Gallery, Fairlawn, NJ.
The Star-Ledger, Feb. 1982 - Review of show, Kornbluth Gallery, Fairlawn, NJ
Interior Design, Apr. 1982 - Review of show, Gallery 10, New York, NY
New York Times, Feb. 1982 - Review of show, Kornbluth Gallery, Fairlawn, NJ
New England, Nov. 1981 - Review of show, Brockton Art Museum, Brockton, MA
New York Times, Sept. 1981 - Review of show, The Elements, New York, NY.
Stratton Magazine, Fall 1981 - Review of show, Stratton Arts Festival, Stratton, VT
The Rutland Herald, Sept. 1981 - Review of show, Stratton Arts Festival, Stratton, VT “Woodworking the New Wave”, 1981 - Article on my work by Donna Meilach
AIA Journal, Nov. 1980 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
Westchester Weekend, Oct. 1980 - Review of show, Westlake Gallery, White Plains, NY
“20th Century Furniture”, Garner 1980 - Article: “Seventies Craft Revival/United States”
House Beautiful, Summer 1979 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
American Craft, June 1979 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
Cue, May-June 1979 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
Newsday, May 1979 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
New York Times, May 1979 - Review of show, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
New York Times, Apr. 1979 - Review of show, Craftsman’s Gallery, Scarsdale, NY
Westchester Weekend, Nov. 1978 - Review of show, Westlake Gallery, White Plains, NY
American Craft, Jun. 1978 - Review of show, J.M. Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
The Designer, Mar. 1978 - Article on my work: “The Artisan Approach”
AIA Journal, Oct. 1974 - Review of show, Domus Locus, New York, NY
House & Garden, Fall 1974 - Review of show, Domus Locus, New York, NY
Worcester Sunday Telegram, Jan. 1974 - Review of show, Worcester Craft Center, Worcester, MA
The Designer, Jan. 1974 - Review of show, Domus Locus, New York, NY
New York Times, Oct. 1973 - Review of show, Domus Locus, New York, NY

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