Who Here Has Heard of Woodturning?

It’s like pottery—with wood!

By Meili Gong

On a date, with friends, or by yourself, the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) Gallery of Wood Art is a hidden gem of the Twin Cities art scene. 

This small, three room museum in St. Paul’s Landmark Center celebrates wood art carved using lathes—machines that spin wood and allow skilled woodturners to carve smooth and round items, like bowls or vases or sculptures, from thick blocks of wood. 

The current exhibit is called “Continuum,” and its call for entries asked woodturners of the AAW to reflect on the artists and woodturners who have inspired them and what they see for the future of woodturning. The whole exhibit is basically the flex of a craft in its fourth millennium and most items are for sale, so if you’ve got a couple grand to drop on a desk piece, come with your checkbook ready.

Throughout the museum, there are also displays on modern woodturning, from informative plaques on wood selection theory, to a step by step breakdown of how a chunk of wood is transformation into a beautiful bowl. My personal favorite is the fuzzy TV where a soft-spoken man with curly hair taught me about vase angles, kind of like if Bob Ross was a woodturner in an alternate universe. 

An extremely nerdy outing? Yes.

But let’s be real, all museums are nerdy and that’s why we love them. They take the esoteric and break it down for the public. If the museum is any good, it’s an interactive schooling, and I don’t know what could be more interactive than picking up and smelling wood, knocking around ancient Scandinavian toys, and listen to the woodturning version of Bob Ross teach sweet nothings to you on a VHS.

If you are looking to start your own journey to become a master woodturner, or just want to go sniff and heft some wood, check out Gallery of Wood Art or drop by the second floor of the Landmark Center at 75 5th St W, Saint Paul, MN. Live demonstrations of woodturning happen on the third Sunday of each month.