The Museum for Art in Wood

The Museum for Art in Wood is the international leader for contemporary art and creativity in the material of wood. The Museum engages, educates, and inspires the public through exhibitions, the permanent collection, and programming.

Since its inception in 1986, the Museum for Art in Wood (formerly the Center for Art in Wood and the Wood Turning Center, respectively) has been widely recognized by artists, collectors, scholars, and the public as a critical resource for the study of art, craft, and design in the material of wood. Emerging from biannual symposia and exhibitions held between 1976 and 1986, the Museum serves an international community as well as its home city of Philadelphia and environs. Under the leadership of founding Director Emeritus Albert LeCoff—a studio woodturner in his own right—the Museum supported and documented the developing field of woodturning as a tool for artistic expression as well as artisanal production.

In its location in Old City, the Museum offers free admission to its changing exhibitions and access to its permanent collection, which now numbers some 1,400 objects and includes turned objects, sculpture, studio furniture, works on paper, video, and more. One of the most extensive institutional collections of contemporary art in wood, the collection serves as a growing document of this field. The Museum’s research library consists of over 26,000 images, artist files, and books that chart the history of wood turning and woodworking and their continuing evolution within the broader field of contemporary art.

The Museum’s focus is aimed at fostering appreciation for art, craft, and design in wood and at creating a space for the public to learn, enjoy, and be inspired.