A new maker-centred exhibition for women, trans and non-binary people who work with wood

In July 2026, Sylva Foundation will host Skilled. Seen., a new week-long exhibition in Oxford celebrating women, trans and non-binary people who work with wood.

Part of our Woodworking & Gender Project, Skilled. Seen. takes its name from two ideas at the heart of the project.

Skilled speaks about craft, practice and the depth of the labour itself. It is a word that recognises makers for what they do: the knowledge they hold, the judgement they develop, the material understanding they build over time, and the care, creativity and effort that go into making with wood. It pushes back against the way women and other marginalised gendered makers are so often underestimated, overlooked, or treated as exceptions rather than recognised as skilled practitioners in their own right.

Seen speaks to visibility. Not just being present, but being recognised, credited and valued. Across the histories of woodworking, furniture making and allied crafts, women and gender-diverse makers have often been hidden from view, left out of records, or absorbed into stories centred on men, workshops or movements. Their work has always been present, but not seen.

This exhibition is about addressing that.

Rather than creating a finished show behind closed doors and then inviting people to come and look at it, we are building a show that grows as makers bring their work. Furniture, products and wood-based objects will arrive over several days, and the exhibition will shape as it fills. We want it to be maker-centred rather than curator-led. That means focusing less on top-down selection, control and gatekeeping, and more on creating a generous and supportive structure in which makers decide what they want to share and how they want to present it.

We want makers to feel this exhibition belongs to them, not that they are being slotted into someone else’s idea of what should be shown.

Our approach acknowledges that access to visibility is not neutral, but a privilege. In heritage woodworking and furniture making, as in many other male-dominated sectors, who gets recognised is shaped by who has access to training, workshop space, tools, mentorship, resources, time, networks and institutional approval. Traditional exhibitions can reinforce those inequalities by rewarding polish, prestige or familiarity with how to present oneself.

This is a free and open exhibition for all women, trans and non-binary makers who work with wood. We are inviting people to bring something they feel proud of. We are not asking for perfection, or a groundbreaking “showpiece”. We are interested in authentic work that says something about a maker’s practice, their relationship with timber, tools and craft, and their feeling of belonging in workshop culture.

That might mean a finished piece of furniture, a smaller object, a prototype, a piece made in employment, or something developed through study, experimentation or self-teaching. What matters is not whether the work fits a narrow hierarchy of value, but whether it represents the maker and their relationship to wood.

Alongside the objects on display, the exhibition will also be accompanied by a collection of makers’ stories. We are interested not only in the work itself, but in the lives, journeys and experiences behind it. We invite makers to share stories about how they came to woodworking, what shaped their practice, what barriers they may have faced, what sustains them, and why they continue to make. These stories will help create a fuller, richer picture of who is working with wood today and what it takes to get there.

Across the week, the exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events, conversations and gatherings bringing together makers, students, educators, employers, industry partners and the wider public. The aim is to create connection: between people, between generations, between lived experience and professional opportunity, and between the objects on display and the wider questions they raise.

Exhibition details

Skilled. Seen. will take place at Fusion Arts’ Depot, Oxford, from Monday 13 July, with a public open day event and closing of the exhibition on Saturday 18 July 2026. The venue is a short walk from Oxford railway station.

Open call

We are now inviting women, trans people (including trans men) and non-binary makers across the UK to take part.

If you work with wood and would like to exhibit, we would love to hear from you.

You might be a student, apprentice, early-career maker, employed maker, self-employed artisan, designer-maker, craftsperson, or established professional. You might make furniture, domestic objects, decorative work, carved pieces, turned work, prototypes, products or experimental pieces. If working with wood is central to your practice, this exhibition is for you.

If you would like to exhibit work and/or contribute to the Story Collection, please complete our sign-up form by 31 May 2026.

If you have questions before signing up please have a look at our FAQ. You can also contact us at gender@sylva.org.uk.