2026-2027 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    May 06, 2026  
2026-2027 Undergraduate Catalog

Fine Woodworking & Furniture Design (BFA.WFD)

Location(s): Johnson: In-Person


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Program Description 

The Fine Woodworking & Furniture Design Program at Vermont State University is a premiere BFA program in fine woodworking offered in partnership with the Vermont Woodworking School (VWS). VWS is a full-time furniture design and woodworking education program. Students spend full days in the woodshop with access to the guidance of professional furniture-makers and woodworkers. Over four years, students learn the basics and then take on increasingly challenging woodworking and furniture-making projects of their own design. 

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Woodworking & Furniture Design take most of the courses in the major at the Vermont Woodworking School (VWS) in their 15,000 square foot, historic barn turned modern woodworking facility. The Vermont Woodworking School is located in Cambridge, about 20 minutes away from the VTSU-Johnson campus, complete with state-of-the-art bench rooms, mill shops, a finish room, a 12-seat computer lab, a photo studio, common areas and galleries. Students study in the same classes and with the same faculty as VWS’s Immersion students. They are assigned a bench at the Vermont Woodworking School and participate in an average of 6 to 9 credits of their full 15-credit course load each semester.

Graduates of the BFA in Fine Woodworking & Furniture Design are prepared to go on to careers in the wood products industry including working for wood products manufacturers, small wood businesses, making and/or designing furniture, graduate programs offering MFAs in fine woodworking or furniture design, or in other fabrication industries. The BFA equips students with skills using SolidWorks, CAD program, preparing graduates for design jobs in the wood industry and beyond. Graduates also go on to start their own furniture businesses. 

Program Outcomes 

  1. Conceptualize personal or group vision into creative works of art.  
  1. Use elements of art and principles of design to create visually expressive artwork.   
  1. Utilize either a specific or a variety of mediums to present realized artist vision.  
  1. Critically analyze artwork by intent and execution.  
  1. Develop an effective studio practice and effectively present artwork. 

Advanced Art History Electives (3 credits)


Select 3 credits from the following:

Credits Required for Major: 81


Graduation Requirements


To obtain a degree, students must fulfill the major-specific requirements as well as satisfy all other degree requirements  including the Connections General Education Program Requirements .

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