If you’ve ever had a seat on this bench in the hallway leading to Wellesley Free Library off the back entrance, then you’ve had a brush with local furniture designer/maker Dale Broholm.
We caught up with this 18-year Wellesley resident to ask him a few questions about his background and work:
Where he works: “Due to space needs and zoning issues my studio is 11 miles south in Norwood. I’m in a old mill complex where I’ve been for the past 11 years.”
How he got to be a furniture designer/maker: “I trained at Boston University, and have a degree in Furniture Design. I’ve been designing/making furniture for the past 25 years, mainly my custom designs for residential clients. For the past 10 years I have been teaching part-time in the Department of Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design.”
How to describe his work: “My work I would call contemporary with historical design influences.”
Choosing wood: “I use all woods depending on the project but prefer domestic temperal forest hardwoods for reasons of environmental issues. My favorite wood is Curly Maple and I do use poplar as a base wood when the object is to be painted or have a colored finish. Poplar is relatively stable and inexpensive.”
How’s business? “Business was good for 2008 but I believe 2009 will be rather slow. My work ( as all high end work) is expensive [his website lists a range of $2K to $15K per piece depending on complexity of design/cost of materials] and my clients do feel the pinch.”
How long it takes to build this stuff: “Time frame to build varies with the design. There is very little I can build in under 40 hours, most jobs run 100-200 hours. I don’t make much money in this line of work but that’s not the reason for doing it.”
Besides the Wellesley Free Library, where you can see his work: “I have pieces in the permanent collection of the MFA Boston, Smithsonian Institute, Smith College of Art, Duxbury Art Complex to name a few.”
What’s new: “I have just developed a class at RISD that is a collaboration with the National Park Service utilizing historic trees (called Witness Trees) as a means of teaching cultural studies and history through object creation. The pilot class will run in fall of 2009.”
Playing favorites: “I don’t have a favorite piece but I do find tables to be my favorite object.”
How a furniture designer furnishes his own house: “The objects in my house are a mix of mine and hand-me-downs. It makes me crazy to buy furniture. Most of it is garbage, won’t last very long and the high-end designer trade furniture tends to be more expensive than custom. Why buy something from a catalog when you can have something created unique to you and support local trade at the same time?”
