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2023 SWFL Wood Art Expo Recap

Last year I said, “The task ahead is to continue to put forth an exposition that is truly the talk of the town, to make it better, bigger and to keep bringing wood artists together.” …and then came hurricane Ian.  Ian delt a devastating blow to many of the SW FL communities but despite the devastation our artists still came out with some amazing work.  By the end of October and the beginning of November it was evident that people wanted to get out and find some semblance of normalcy to daily life.  We made the decision to move forward with the show and it couldn’t have been a better decision.
 
The Board of Directors for the SWFL Wood Art Expo put in an extraordinary effort to bring the show together.  We found many entities that were more than willing to make a donation to help out the show as well as the many vendors who not only came to the show but made generous donations for our silent auction and raffle with the biggest donation coming from Foredom Tools.  We extend our gratitude to all of them.
 
Our artists didn’t disappoint us either!  The carvers presented charactures, wildlife, birds, and many other types of relief carvings and pyrography.  The woodturners had many beautiful pieces including bowls, platters, urns, segmented turnings and many more.  Woodturner, Paul Bartlett stole the show with his giant segmented “Ribbon Tree” spinning tower and Woodcarver, Bob Johnstone from Stuart, FL, who entered his giant “Galapagos Turtle,” not only took first place in his category but also won the President’s Choice Award and the People’s Choice Award!  Congratulations to all the award recipients.
 
And finally, thanks to the local community for supporting the show and coming out to see everything we had to offer and a big thanks to all our volunteers who help bring the show together.
 
We are looking forward to another great show next year, which will be January 12th and 13th 2024.  As I said in the beginning, “The task ahead is to continue to put forth an exposition that is truly the talk of the town, to make it better, bigger and to keep bringing wood artists together.” I think we are definitely pointed in the right direction! We sold out all our vendor/club tables this year and there were more requests for tables than we could accommodate. So, if you are interested in participating in the 2024 show, I suggest planning ahead and get your forms in sooner than later when they become available!
 
Also please visit our community partners page, vendor page and donating organization page.  See you next year!
 
Louis Currier, President
SWFL Wood Art Expo Board of Directors
 

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