Everyone has something to Contribute
“Being a part of this once-in-a-life time experience has taught me that if you put your mind to something and you believe in yourself wholeheartedly, you will see your dreams become reality.
-Margaux Hammer, Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project Participant, Preservation Carpentry Class of 2023, North Bennet Street School
Margaux Hammer, Lily Nudel, Elizabeth Pearson, North Bennet Street School students/alumna, Ross Beebe professional carpenter of Rockbridge Timber Frames, and Daniel J. Papke of the Historic Preservation Training Center of the National Park Service coax the our Notre-Dame de Paris Truss #6 Replica back together for an exhibition in Washington, DC, September 26, 2022.
make it possible for others to PARTICIPATE
Handshouse has 20 years of exceptional projects that have impacted thousands of people around the world. It is such an honor to work with an organization that so frequently receives messages like Margaux’s.
2022 has been another year of remarkable hands-on, collaborative, creative, and dynamic learning opportunities, and we are eager to continue to make innovative hands-on projects like theNotre-Dame de Paris Truss Project,Toys for Monkeys and Toys for Elephants Projects, theGwodziec Synagogue Project DigitalArchive/Virtual Tour, the Gourd Banjo Project,and the Trojan Horse Projectcontinue to be available for enthusiastic participants.
Cost should NOT be a barrier
As we develop new partnerships and ways to bring our workshops to broad communities of students, professionals, and teachers around the world, we are committed to making these hands-on learning opportunities accessible to all those who have a curiosity to learn through these “once in a life-time” projects.
This is a group of the more-than-50 students and professionals who joined us throughout the weeklong Notre-Dame de Paris: La Forêt Model Project Workshop offered at the University of Georgia in the fall of 2022. During this workshop, participants took part in this collaborative hands-on exploration of the complex wooden roof structure that once stood above Notre-Dame de Paris. The group succeeded in constructing 2 primary trusses and 12 secondary trusses using historically accurate drawings, white oak, and hand-tools. Pictured here: Alice Warford, Rae Bumgardner, Mickey Oscar Boyd, Raleigh Payne, Collin Pannell, Hank Hambright of Heavy Friends Furniture, Jasmine Best, Lizzy Ammon, Martijn Van Wagtendonk, Marie Brown, Preston Harden, Ben Frick, Courtney Smith, and Nimsey Corea.
Participants joined us for a Day of Demonstrations at the Millennium Gate Museum in Atlanta, GA, where the Notre-Dame de Paris Truss Project full-scale replica and model of La Forêt was on exhibition for most of April 2022. Pictured here, Jonathan Helvy of the South Carolina Governors School of Arts, learning to joggle: a traditional process that carpenters have used for centuries to square logs into timbers for the construction of historic timber structures like the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Making History
Handshouse Studio is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2002. It has become an internationally-recognized educational organization that creates adventurous hands-on projects.
Handshouse projects are remarkable hands-on learning adventures — ranging from reconstructing one of the trusses of Notre-Dame de Paris, to designing and building enrichment objects for elephants and monkeys, and recreating the wooden synagogues of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, historic gourd banjos of the Americas, woven Rainbow Bridges of China, the art and structure of the Trojan horse.
Handshouse projects rely on the power of the collective mind and the collaborative support of a community. Through partnerships with prominent organizations, students, and experts from around the globe, Handshouse creates signature project-based workshops that investigate history, enhance the understanding of science, and illuminate the arts.
Lily Nudel, Jonathan Kenkel, and Chris Pienta of the North Bennet Street School installing the 1:10 Scale white oak model of Notre-Dame de Paris Model of La Forêt over the scale floor plan of the cathedral created by Lorenzo DeAlmeida of Catholic University’s School of Architecture and Planning.
“Everyone contributes. everyone learns.”
-Rick Brown, Co-founder, Handshouse Studio
We like to say that what makes our learning experiences so powerful is that they bring people together across disciplines, skills levels, generations, borders, and history. Together we create an environment driven by the authentic curiosity to understand our world by the generative act of making and remaking, of creating connections, and working in a community where everyone contributes and everyone learns.
So we are reaching out to our community to help us ensure we can continue to welcome those who want to contribute to these remarkable experiences regardless of income.
We are reaching out to our supporters to help us ensure we can continue to welcome those who want to contribute to these remarkable experiences regardless of income.
Your tax deductible donation will go 100% to our Scholarship Fund today!
If you'd like to learn more about our work, how you can get involved, or have any questions, please reach out to Executive Director, Marie Brown.
Handshouse Studio is a non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible. Our tax ID number is 04-3715575.
