BRUCE BEEKEN born 1953 Hanover, NH
2014 - present: Instructor at Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Steam Bending
1983 - present: Partner in Beeken Parsons
1985 Visiting Professor, Boston University, Program in Artisanry
1980 National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman's Fellowship
1978 Established Bruce Beeken Furniture
1978 Certificate of Mastery, Boston University, Program in Artisanry
1973 Apprenticeship with Simon Watts, furniture maker, Putney, VT
1972 Apprenticeship with Carl Bausch, canoe maker, Charlotte, VT
JEFF PARSONS born 1956 Boston, MA
1983-present Partner in Beeken Parsons
1981 Employed Depot Woodworking Co., Inc., Burlington, VT
1979 Employed Reale Mirror Mfg., New York, NY & Plymouth, NH
1979 BAA, Boston University, Program in Artisanry
1974 Employed Gilders Workshop, Winchester, MA
EXHIBITIONS
• “State of Craft”-Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT 2010
• “The Maker’s Hand: American Studio Furniture 1940-1990”-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2003-2004
• "Object for Use: Handmade by Design"-American Craft Museum, New York, NY 2001-2002
• "The Craftsman’s Chair"-Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT 1997
• "Good Wood"-Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, OR 1997
• "In The Tradition: Contemporary Vermont Furniture Inspired by History"-The Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT 1996
• "Beeken Parsons Twenty Years of Chair Design"- Gallery of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Burlington, VT 1995
• "Conservation By Design"-Rhode Island School of Design & WARP, RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI 1994; World Forestry Center Portland, OR 1995; Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL 1996; Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ 1996; Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian Institute) 1996 & 1997; Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, PA 1997
• "Inside the House That Jack Built"-Anchorage Museum of History & Art, Anchorage, AK 1992 & 1993
• "A Lasting Heritage, The Influence of Shaker Design"-Brattleboro Museum and Art Center Brattleboro, VT 1992
• "Traditional Sources, Contemporary Visions"-Vermont’s Bicentennial Exhibition inspired by the Shelburne Museum Collection 1991
• "New American Furniture"-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 1989; Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian Institute) 1989 & 1990; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH 1990; Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA 1991
• "Bentwood Furniture"-permanent collections, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 1984
• "New Handmade Furniture"-American Craft Museum, New York, NY 1979
• "Young Americans"-American Federation of the Arts, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY 1977
NOTEWORTHY PROJECTS
• Bennington College, Bennington VT, design and manufacture chairs for Commons dining hall, 2019
• Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor CT, design and manufacture tables and chairs for the Scanlon Center dining hall 2018
• University of Vermont, Burlington VT, design and manufacture media circulation desk for Bailey Howe Library 2018
• Hotchkiss School, Lakeview CT, design and manufacture Farm Barn tables 2017
• University of Vermont, Burlington VT, design and manufacture circulation desk for Bailey Howe Library 2015
• University of Vermont, Burlington VT, design and manufacture a series of media lecterns for Memorial Lounge and the President’s Lectern 2014
• Yale University, New Haven CT, design and manufacture table and chairs for Davenport College 2014
• Norwich University, Northfield VT, design and manufacture study chairs for West Residential Hall 2014
• Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VT, design and manufacture benches for the Pizzagalli Center 2013
• Champlain College, Burlington VT, design and manufacture benches for Juniper Residential Hall 2012
• Hotel Vermont, Burlington VT, design and manufacture lobby lounge chairs and meeting room table 2011
• Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe VT, design and manufacture rocking chairs for Owner’s Lodges 2011
• Champlain College, Burlington, VT, design and manufacture lounge seating for Perry Hall, 2010
• The Rashi School, Dedham, MA, design and manufacture library furniture and Beit Midrash seating, 2010
• Community College of Vermont, Burlington, VT, design and manufacture benches and lounge seating, 2010
• Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA, manufacture temple seating, 2009
• Norwich University, Northfield, VT, design and manufacture student residential center seating, 2009
• Casey Family Services, White River Junction, VT, design and manufacture seating, 2009
• Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, design and manufacture seating for Houghton Chapel, 2008
• Wake Robin, Shelburne, VT, design and manufacture community center stacking chairs, 2008
• Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, design and manufacture tables for the Axinn center at Starr Library, 2008
• M.I.T., Cambridge, MA, design and manufacture student dining table for Beta Theta Pi, 2007
• Yale University, New Haven, CT, design and manufacture library chairs for Davenport Residential College 2005
• Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, design and manufacture library tables and chairs for the Davis Family Library, 2004
• Saint Michael’s College, Colchester, VT, design and manufacture seating and tables for Hoehl Welcome Center 2002-2003
• Vermont Natural Resources Council, Montpelier, VT, design and manufacture chairs for Peter Zilliacus Environmental Leadership Awards 2003
• Champlain College, Burlington, VT, design and manufacture chairs for Main Street Suites 2003
• Marlboro College, Marlboro, VT, design and manufacture easy chairs and couches for Rice-Aron Library 2003
• Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, design and manufacture chairs for LaForce Commons 2002
• Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, design and manufacture tables and benches for Skiway Lodge 2000
• Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park, Woodstock, VT, Seating for Interpretive Visitor Center 2000
• Tulane University, New Orleans LA, Benches for Environmental Science Center 1999
• Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VT, Public Seating for Pleisner Gallery 1995 & 1996
• Williams College, Amherst MA, Reader’s Chairs for Fort Hoosak Dining / Meeting Room 1994
• Norwich University, Northfield, VT, design and manufacture Readers' Chairs for Kreitzberg Library 1992 & 1993
• Vermont Law School, South Royalton VT, design and coordinate manufacture of chairs, tables and study carrels for Cornell Library 1990 & 1991
• Brushstroke Chair and Brushstroke Ottoman, manufacture a 28-piece edition by Roy Lichtenstein with Graphicstudio, USF, Tampa, FL 1987 & 1988
• Wendell Castle Chairs Arc International: manufacture chairs for 20th Century Furniture Collection of Coca-Cola Corp., Atlanta, GA 1984
RESEARCH and EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport ME, Instructor for Steam Bending and Curvature segment of the Nine Month Furniture Intensive program 2014-2020
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York NY, presenter in “Elements of Style: The Art of Fine Furniture Making in America - Then and Now” 2012
• Yale University, New Haven CT, co-presenter at Davenport College Master’s Tea Sustainable Forestry and Furniture Making” 2012
• Northeastern States Research Cooperative, Wood Education and Resource Center, Linking Wood Products, Creative Thinking, and Digital Technology, 2005-2007
• USDA SBIR Phase 2 Character Wood Furniture-Opportunities for Building a Rural Business Community 1999-2001
• USDA SBIR Phase 1 Character-Marked Wood Furniture: Opportunities for Sustainable Rural Development 1998
• The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation. Vermont Forest Furniture (Value Added to Lower-Grade Forest Products) 1998
• Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Vermont Forest Furniture 1997-1998
• Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), Toward a Sustaining Forest: A Project to Survey Consumer Response to Furniture Made with Character Marked Wood 1997
• USDA Forest Service Rural Development Through Forestry Fund / Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Value Added to Lower-Grade Forest Products 1996-1997
• Lintilhac Foundation. Vermont Forest Furniture (Value Added to Lower-Grade Forest Products) 1997
• Hawaii Forest Industry Association Vermont Forest Furniture Workshops. Hawai’i, Maui, O’ahu 1999
• North Country Studio Conference Steam Bending and Pattern Shaping 1993
• Rhode Island School of Design Measuring and Pattern Shaping 1986
• Philadelphia College of Art Pattern Shaping 1985
