Design for Living: 33rd Annual Juried Woodworking Exhibition — Wharton Esherick Museum, Malvern, 17 June – 19 September 2027

The Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern, Pennsylvania, has opened the call for entries to its 33rd annual juried woodworking exhibition. The 2027 edition is titled Design for Living and will be on view at the museum from 17 June to 19 September 2027. Entries are accepted until midnight on 10 January 2027, and all entrants will be told the jury’s decision by 26 February 2027.

The competition began in 1994 as a way to encourage new, creative and functional design in wood, and it is open to artists of any discipline as long as the submitted piece incorporates wood. The 2027 theme asks how design responds to the way people live, work, gather and move: objects made for particular individuals, communities or spaces, and pieces that take account of physical ability, personal circumstances and the routines of daily life. Three jurors select the finalists through a blind review of the submitted images: Jermaine Jenkins, director of development and strategic partnerships at the American Institute of Architects’ Philadelphia chapter and DesignPhiladelphia; Sarah Darro, chief curator and exhibitions director at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft; and Emily Zilber, the museum’s director of curatorial affairs and strategic partnerships. Each entrant may submit up to three pieces, and selected works must remain available for the whole run of the exhibition.

The museum preserves the hilltop studio and residence that Wharton Esherick built behind his farmhouse and furnished entirely with his own work, from sofas and beds to door latches, and the site is a National Historic Landmark for its architecture. Throughout 2027 the museum’s exhibitions and public programmes look at Esherick’s legacy through the lens of design, and the juried show extends that enquiry to woodworkers practising today.

Practical details

• Exhibition dates: 17 June – 19 September 2027
• Call for entries: deadline 10 January 2027; up to three pieces per entrant; entry form online
• Where: Wharton Esherick Museum, 1520 Horseshoe Trail, Malvern, PA 19355, USA
• Visiting: the museum is open March to December; tours at set times between 10am and 3pm, Wednesday to Sunday, by advance reservation only
• Organised by: Wharton Esherick Museum
• Information: whartonesherickmuseum.org — +1 610 644 5822

Cultural Heritage Online lists this exhibition because it is held inside the preserved studio of a maker whose house and workshop are themselves a protected landmark, and because the open call reaches woodworkers far beyond Pennsylvania.