Current/Upcoming Events
Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project Presentation
May 4th 2:00 – 4:00pm
Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North Street
Plymouth MA 02360
Michael Burrey will share his experience working side-by-side with traditional French carpenters reconstructing Notre-Dame de Paris’s 315 ft wooden spire, while Marie Brown will show how Handshouse Studio launched the Notre Dame Project, bringing together institutions, historians, architects, craftspeople, and students to recreate key architectural features of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Come hear from Michael and Marie about this extraordinary act of international collaboration and the importance of traditional skills and techniques.
Ticket price: $30
Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project representative Michael Burrey uses a mallet and chisel to carve a component of the Notre-Dame de Paris spire at the Asselin workshop. (Thouars, France, 2023)
Group photo of the participants in the Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project initial 10-day truss-building workshop at Catholic University, after the truss had been hand-raised. Michael Burrey sits among the participants in the front row.
A Norwell High School student placing Notre-Dame truss # 6 in its place in the mode of the choir section of Notre-Dame de Paris’s timber roof structure known as La Forêt (the forest).
60th International Congress on Medieval Studies
May 9th 1:30 – 3:00pm
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project Presentation and La Forêt Workshop
The International Congress on Medieval Studies is an annual gathering of thousands of scholars interested in medieval studies. The Congress embraces the study of all aspects of the Middle Ages, extending into late antiquity and the early modern period, including—but not limited to—history, language, literature, linguistics, art, archaeology, religion, science, medicine, music, drama, philosophy, gender, sexuality, mysticism and technology, as well as medievalism.
Workshop Title: 228 - From Tree to Truss (2): Gothic Carpentry Workshop
Assembly workshop of the Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project “La Forêt” Model. This is a 1:10 scale white oak model of the intricate wooden roof structure that once stood above Notre-Dame de Paris. Made of a dizzying array of mortise and tenon joints, this model of the east end of what is known in French as “La Forêt” (“The Forest”). The intricate wooden roof framework stood above the stone vaults of Notre-Dame de Paris from the 13th century until the roof was destroyed by fire on April 15, 2019. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to engage with medieval architecture hands-on, providing a tactile and visual exploration of the architectural history of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Ticket price: Sliding scale $0-$290
Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project Truss and Model Exhibition
June-August 2025
Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY
Exhibition of the Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project Truss reconstruction and La Forêt model.
Come see Handshouse’s full-scale reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris’ choir truss #6, built by Handshouse participants at Catholic University using medieval tools and processes!
Learn about “La Forêt”—the roof structure above the choir section of Notre-Dame de Paris which suffered devastating burns and destruction in the 2019 fire—through exploration of a 1:10 scale model!
This exhibition at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY will be a spectacular opportunity to explore the complex architecture of Notre-Dame de Paris, learn about its burning and reconstruction, and hear the story of how Handshouse lent many hands to the cathedral as an act of global solidarity.
Dignify By Design Summit
July 9th-10th, 2025
The Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM
A series of 7 presentations + panel discussions with leaders in design, architecture, craft, and community building.
Join us for a gathering of leaders in the fields of design, craft, art, architecture, and film to discuss their creative process and how dignity informs their work. Together, we will examine how design can respectfully engage cultural material as a source of inspiration, build community and allow members to flourish.
Keynote Speaker: Michael P. Murphy - (former founder of MASS Design, now heading his own firm)
Additional Speakers:
Mexican designer - Fernando LaPosse; ceramicist, designer, film maker - Virgil Ortiz
Executive Director of the International Folk Art Market - Stacey Edgar
Executive Director of Handshouse Studio - Marie Brown
Principals of A + A Design Studio - Aki & Arnaud Cooren
Current Exhibitions
Joe Wood hammering the copper body of the rooster.
The Rooster Project
As part of the Handshouse Studio: Notre-Dame Project, the full-scale work-in-progress reconstruction of the 19th century Notre-Dame copper rooster is on display at the Paul Revere Heritage Site for the exhibition, “Copper!”. The three-floor exhibit pays homage to Revere’s expertise through historical and contemporary copper artwork modeled after Revere’s copper engraving, hammering, bending and stamping methods.
When: May - Feb 2025, Saturdays: from 11:30AM to 2:30PM
Exhibition Opening: Saturday, November 2nd from 1-3pm
Where: Paul Revere Heritage Site, 2 Rolling Mill Way, Canton, MA
The Bushnell “Turtle” Submarine on exhibition in the lobby at the International Spy Museum.
The Bushnell “Turtle” Submarine
A ragtag colonial army faced the mighty British Empire in 1776. Could American ingenuity turn the tide? Inventor David Bushnell hoped so. Bushnell built America’s first combat submarine, the pedal-powered Turtle. Its covert mission? Slip into New York Harbor and attach a bomb to a British warship. It almost worked. The pilot submerged beneath the ship undetected, but had to abort as his air ran low.
Handshouse Studio—aided by students, professional craftsmen, and the US Naval Academy—built this replica Revolutionary War wooden submarine. Using tools and techniques of the day, they proved that Bushnell’s seemingly radical idea was feasible.
Image of the Gwozdziec Synagogue Digital Archive highlights, from a section titled “Take a closer look”.
The Wooden Synagogue: digital archive Project
Take a Tour of the Gwoździec Synagogue
This virtual tour of the Gwoździec Synagogue is flying your through the painted ceiling of the prayer hall, as recreated by Handshouse Studio for the Gwoździec Re!construction permanent exhibition at the Polin Museum for the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland. This virtual tour is built of a digital composite made by Trillium Studios of photographs taken by Cary Wolinksy of the Handshouse Gwoździec reconstruction. This 3-D video rendering, made by Crazybride Studio, demonstrates the texture and quality of what the interactive virtual space we are hoping to creating can be.
The Gwozdziec Synagogue re/constructed roof and bimah on exhibition at the POLIN Museum.
The Gwozdziec Synagogue Re/Construction
The POLIN Core Exhibition is a journey through 1000 years of the history of Polish Jews – from the Middle Ages until today. Visitors will find answers to questions such as: how did Jews come to Poland? How did Poland become the center of the Jewish Diaspora and the home of the largest Jewish community in the world? How did it cease to be one, and how is Jewish life being revived?
The Handshouse Studio: Gwoździec Synagogue Re/construction of the painted ceiling and bimah is currently on display as a feature in the POLIN core exhibition.