- Joined
- Apr 25, 2004
- Messages
- 372
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- Location
- Burnt Chimney, SW Virginia
- Website
- www.burntchimneystudios.com
I see a parallel with the AAW and the automakers several years ago in Detroit. When GM, Ford, and Chrysler were the dominant carmakers and Toyota and Honda were not known to the American market, Detroit could take the attitude that the public will buy what we produce. They ignored the small car market and produced bigger and more expensive cars. The rest is history. Detroit got its fanny kicked and they may never recover from their arrogance and indifference to what the American public wanted. Members of the AAW are speaking loudly and clearly and stating that the AAW should be about WOODTURNING and not art that is not woodturning and the AAW should be devoid of politics of any stripe.
I attended the Symposium and like Rear Admiral Duffy, I was offended by the political statement that was in the Instant Gallery. It had no place there. I spoke IN PRIVATE to two AAW Board members and was given the "Free Speech" excuse for their inability to stand up and do what was right. I don't want to see ANY politics in the IG. People may post what they want on the walls outside the IG, thereby exercising the right to free speech, but inside should be WOODTURNING and nothing else. The Board members suggested that I write a letter to the Board. I indicated rather quickly that it would be a waste of time because the Board doesn't give a rat's fanny about what I or any other member thinks. (Hello, Detroit!)
Has anyone given INTELLIGENT thought to the demographics of the AAW and what is down the road? Folks, a good look around tells us quickly that we are the Gray Panthers and they don't make enough hair dye to hide that fact. And it is a predominantly male population - so many of the members are veterans who have served in the military. And some of the female members may also have served. It is MY conservative GUESSTIMATE that 75% of the members would be offended by the statement that was allowed to lie around in the IG and that they would also prefer NO POLITICS be allowed in the IG.
The work of a young French woodturner was honored by the AAW. I consider him to be a friend of mine since he was on the Boxmakers SIN panel. I like his work. He had three groupings in the Instant Gallery: a tall pair of turned boxes, a set of three medium turned boxes, and a pair of rectangular columns which had two turned dimples on them. The elegant boxes THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHOSEN were bypassed for the rectangular pair that were in no way representative of turned work. When is the AAW going to get it? Folks, it's about woodturning! I am delighted that this artist's work was honored, but honor his best work - his woodturning!
I have a pessimistic view of the future for woodturning and I predict the decline of the AAW. As the old geezers, myself included, die off the lack of shop in high school is generating a population that will not look to woodturning for recreation nor as a vocation. I can't predict when the decline will start but it can't be more than ten or fifteen years from now. Efforts to make AAW membership mandatory for all members of new clubs was apparently roundly booed by chapter representatives at the chapter meeting. This high-handed approach will not improve things. The AAW is riding the crest now, but the wave is coming ashore.
I have on occasion been viewed as the one most likely to spot a pothole ahead. Valid or not, I see potential potholes down the road that should be avoided or addressed. I will try to state some in a positive manner.
1. Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing. It's about woodturning.
2. There should be an absolute ban on all political statements in the Instant Gallery or other AAW venues. The majority of the members would support such a ban and they have rights too.
3. Nepotism should be avoided at all costs. No wives, husbands, partners, nor family members should be hired by Board members to work for the AAW.
4. Folks, we are supposed to be playing on the same team. Why did I leave Richmond with a sense that the AAW Board "has an attitude"? The agenda of Board members and the members should be woodturning, not art, and not politics, and not advancing some social agenda.
Food for thought: What would happen if a group of woodturners started an organization that adopted the positions that I have advocated? At what point would Detroit start to listen?
Ed
Professor Emeritus
United States Naval Academy
I attended the Symposium and like Rear Admiral Duffy, I was offended by the political statement that was in the Instant Gallery. It had no place there. I spoke IN PRIVATE to two AAW Board members and was given the "Free Speech" excuse for their inability to stand up and do what was right. I don't want to see ANY politics in the IG. People may post what they want on the walls outside the IG, thereby exercising the right to free speech, but inside should be WOODTURNING and nothing else. The Board members suggested that I write a letter to the Board. I indicated rather quickly that it would be a waste of time because the Board doesn't give a rat's fanny about what I or any other member thinks. (Hello, Detroit!)
Has anyone given INTELLIGENT thought to the demographics of the AAW and what is down the road? Folks, a good look around tells us quickly that we are the Gray Panthers and they don't make enough hair dye to hide that fact. And it is a predominantly male population - so many of the members are veterans who have served in the military. And some of the female members may also have served. It is MY conservative GUESSTIMATE that 75% of the members would be offended by the statement that was allowed to lie around in the IG and that they would also prefer NO POLITICS be allowed in the IG.
The work of a young French woodturner was honored by the AAW. I consider him to be a friend of mine since he was on the Boxmakers SIN panel. I like his work. He had three groupings in the Instant Gallery: a tall pair of turned boxes, a set of three medium turned boxes, and a pair of rectangular columns which had two turned dimples on them. The elegant boxes THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHOSEN were bypassed for the rectangular pair that were in no way representative of turned work. When is the AAW going to get it? Folks, it's about woodturning! I am delighted that this artist's work was honored, but honor his best work - his woodturning!
I have a pessimistic view of the future for woodturning and I predict the decline of the AAW. As the old geezers, myself included, die off the lack of shop in high school is generating a population that will not look to woodturning for recreation nor as a vocation. I can't predict when the decline will start but it can't be more than ten or fifteen years from now. Efforts to make AAW membership mandatory for all members of new clubs was apparently roundly booed by chapter representatives at the chapter meeting. This high-handed approach will not improve things. The AAW is riding the crest now, but the wave is coming ashore.
I have on occasion been viewed as the one most likely to spot a pothole ahead. Valid or not, I see potential potholes down the road that should be avoided or addressed. I will try to state some in a positive manner.
1. Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing. It's about woodturning.
2. There should be an absolute ban on all political statements in the Instant Gallery or other AAW venues. The majority of the members would support such a ban and they have rights too.
3. Nepotism should be avoided at all costs. No wives, husbands, partners, nor family members should be hired by Board members to work for the AAW.
4. Folks, we are supposed to be playing on the same team. Why did I leave Richmond with a sense that the AAW Board "has an attitude"? The agenda of Board members and the members should be woodturning, not art, and not politics, and not advancing some social agenda.
Food for thought: What would happen if a group of woodturners started an organization that adopted the positions that I have advocated? At what point would Detroit start to listen?
Ed
Professor Emeritus
United States Naval Academy
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