Students in Santa Barbara are connecting with natural materials through the craft of woodworking! This creative construction is featured in The Big Show, a free art show hosted by the Tradart Foundation, founded by Leslie Meadowcroft-Schipper. The eighth annual event in which local students’ woodworking contributions are displayed and rewarded occurred on May 8 at the Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Upper Auditorium. Students from all Santa Barbara Unified schools come together to appreciate the artistry of Industrial Arts and Construction Technology — seven junior and senior high schools compete, and notably, seven woodshops are used to create these works.
“The Big Show is a competition, because we want to create a space for students to show their work at a competitive level with other students at the Santa Barbara Unified School District, and it’s a place to create community as well,” states Meadowcroft-Schipper. She explained to me that a large portion of pursuing the art of woodworking is to create connections and network, and this experience grounds these foundations for young crafters to advocate for themselves.
Tradart is an industry specific foundation that focuses on supporting schools’ efforts in building and construction in wood shops by providing them the resources to do so. Meadowcroft-Schipper explains, “the Tools for Schools Program is the program that provides materials and building supplies and oversight to the shops.” In doing this, Tradart supports the education and creativity of our young local community. “We serve students. That’s our mission. We serve students, and we serve their exploration process,” she said.
Meadowcroft-Schipper states that the annual competition was, “started by a teacher. He was very proud of his students. He was a junior high teacher and his students were producing furniture — they were producing chairs, tables, drawers, chests of drawers, and he just had to make a show. He opened his classroom, and he did a little competition, and he had board members of Tradart be the judges. And he started the big show in Santa Barbara Junior High.” This shows how the competition is personal and supportive of each individual crafter this year and for years to come.
The awards are sponsored by the Santa Barbara Contractors Association and the efforts of Tradart are endorsed by partners in education such as the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Tradart also partners with local businesses such as Hayward Lumber, Buena Tool Company, DD Ford Construction, and Frank Schipper Construction Company to make events like these possible. You can learn more about the Tradart Foundation and The Big Show on their website.
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