Saratoga Joinery and The Hyde Collection Partner on Shaker Stepstool Class
Example Stepstool Offered to be Made by Participants at Saratoga Joinery (Courtesy of Saratoga Joinery)
Saratoga Springs— Saratoga Joinery is partnering with The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls to offer a Shaker-inspired stepstool fabrication class.
The Shakers are a religious sect founded in Manchester, England, in 1747. Facing religious persecution, the faction fled their home for the colonies in the 1770s, settling in present day Watervliet.
The community was self-sufficient and prosperous in pre-industrialized America, known for their craftsmanship.
The Saratoga Joinery class will be offered twice: Monday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 19 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The class is offered in conjunction with The Hyde’s current exhibition, “Form and Function: The Beauty of Shaker Design,” on view through January 10, 2027, at 161 Warren Street, Glens Falls.
The exhibition draws from two private collections of Shaker furniture and objects; many never shown in a museum before. It is organized into two parts: “Shakers at Work,” which looks at the trades the Shakers practiced and the plain, practical tools they made for them, and “Shakers at Rest,” which features the chairs, tables and storage boxes of everyday life.
At Saratoga Joinery, participants will be able to build a version of that everyday Shaker furniture themselves: a cherry stepstool, made from a wood the Shakers favored. Led by Ben Knapp, the Joinery’s Director of Shop Operations and Education Programs, the beginner-friendly class covers accurate measuring and marking, methods for making safe repeated cuts, cutting rabbets and curves, using traditionally manufactured nails, and shaping edges with a spokeshave.
“Awe is a word I try not to use lightly,” said Ben Knapp, Director of Shop Operations and Education Programs for Saratoga Joinery, “but I can hardly find a better word to describe my recent visit to the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA. I’ve developed a class that I hope will humbly pay tribute to the Shaker’s ingenuity and craftspersonship, but is also accessible to folks new to the craft.”
The partnership reflects a duality of purpose: The Hyde preserves and shares the objects of the past so people can appreciate them; Saratoga Joinery keeps traditional craft alive by putting tools in people’s hands.
“We are very excited to work with new community partners who share a commitment to community engagement through hands-on expression,” said Katelyn Foley, Curator of Education & Engagement at The Hyde Collection. “Saratoga Joinery is the best partner to work with to dive into the artform of Shaker creation and we are proud to share their mission and work with our museum community.”
The class is open to ages 16 and up, with minors accompanied by an adult. No prior woodworking experience is needed. Registration is available at saratogajoinery.org/community-classes.