Hail Mary prototype · /conference · 2026 strawman from sapfm-ops; final schedule + pricing this spring
Members DesktopForumSearchSign in
Society of AmericanPeriod Furniture Makers
The Mid-Year Conference · October 2–5, 2026

Connecticut River Valley.
Yale on either side.

Four days at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, bookended by curator-led time at the Yale University Art Gallery. Bench demonstrations, member presentations, the Cartouche Award banquet, and the long evenings between sessions where most of the actual work happens.

Save the date See last year's program →
This year

October 2–5, 2026. CT Valley School of Woodworking.

Pair of side chairs by Eliphalet Chapin, East Windsor, Connecticut, 1781. Mahogany with carved shell crest, pierced ribbon splat, and claw-and-ball feet. Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery.
Pair of Side Chairs · 1781 Eliphalet Chapin, East Windsor, Connecticut — thirty miles north of where the conference meets. Mahogany. Carved shell crest, pierced ribbon splat, claw-and-ball feet. Mabel Brady Garvan Collection · Yale University Art Gallery · 1930.2516a-b

The 2026 Mid-Year Conference runs October 2–5 at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking in Manchester, with optional Yale programming bookending the conference. The Cartouche Award banquet Saturday evening recognizes the 2026 honoree, Tim Killen — life-long woodworker, teacher, and author.

Bookended by Yale. A curator-led tour of the Yale University Art Gallery's American decorative arts vault — Patricia Kane and the furniture-study staff — before the conference, and a full day in the Furniture Study itself after, boxes pulled by request.

Four days at the school where Bob Van Dyke teaches. Bench demonstrations, member presentations, and the Saturday-evening Cartouche banquet. Program details and registration opening this spring.

WhenOctober 2–5, 2026
Optional Yale bookends before and after
WhereCT Valley School of Woodworking
Manchester, CT
RegistrationTo be announced
Opens this spring
HonoreeTim Killen
2026 Cartouche recipient
How it goes

Six days if you stay for the bookends.

Wed · before Optional · Yale University Art Gallery, behind the scenes. Curator-led tour of the American decorative arts vault with Patricia Kane and the furniture-study staff.
Fri · Oct 2 Arrival and check-in at the Connecticut Valley School. Opening reception in the evening — the first time most of the room is in one place.
Sat · Oct 3 Bench demonstrations and member presentations through the day. The Cartouche Award banquet in the evening — the public recognition of Tim Killen as the 2026 honoree. The night people come for.
Sun · Oct 4 Rotation presentations — small-group sessions on technique, history, and shop practice. The annual Society meeting late afternoon.
Mon · Oct 5 Main-stage presentations through the morning, formal close. Optional hand-cut moldings session with Bob Van Dyke at CT Valley in the afternoon for those who can stay. Bring your own hollows and rounds.
Tue · after Optional · Yale Furniture Study, full day. Private session in the study itself. Boxes pulled by request.

Detailed program and presenter lineup announced this spring.

Cheney Brothers Historic District, Manchester, Connecticut. Period brick mill complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Manchester, October. The Cheney Brothers Historic District — within a mile of where the conference meets. Photo: GCDougherty, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Last year

Williamsburg, October 10–13, 2025.

The 2025 Mid-Year Conference brought 86 registrants to the Williamsburg Lodge for four days of presentations, behind-the-scenes museum access, and the Cartouche Award banquet honoring Bess Naylor — recognized for her work on Pennsylvania furniture and Line and Berry decoration.

Friday's behind-the-scenes program took members into the Anthony Hay Cabinetmakers' Shop and the Booker Tenement with Bill Pavlak and Brian Weldy, the Colonial Williamsburg storage labs with curators Tara Chicirda, Chris Swan, and Sarah Towers, and the Geddy Foundry for a private demonstration of 18th-century hardware casting and engraving.

Saturday rotations ran in three 90-minute sessions across upholstery, tall case clocks, and the Walker tea-table fusion project — Mike Mascelli, Jason Bennett, Ray Journigan — with Bob Van Dyke on Federal-period ladies' work tables. Sunday opened with Bess Naylor's talk and continued into Don Williams on aging finishes, Tad Fallon on traditional water gilding, and Curtis Buchanan on the Democratic Chair.

Friday and Monday optional tours took small groups to a James River plantation with Ralph Harvard and Chipstone furniture editor Luke Beckerdite, and to Historic Shirley and Berkeley Plantation on the Monday — Shirley's three-story flying walnut staircase is the only one of its kind in America.

Earlier years

2024

2024 Mid-Year Conference

Ursinus College · Collegeville, PA

Cartouche: Marion Smith

2023

2023 Annual Conference

Tryon Palace · New Bern, NC

Cartouche: Daniel Faia

2022

2022 Mid-Year Conference

Greenville, SC

Cartouche: Chuck Bender

October 2–5, 2026. Manchester, Connecticut.

Save the date.

Become a Member