Stephen Robin at his Gallery and Shop · Woodstock, NY
The Maker Behind the Gallery
Stephen Robin
"If you can dream it, we can build it. Every piece that leaves this shop is built to outlast the people who commissioned it."
Furniture As Art is the gallery and online presence of Stephen Robin Woodworking, based in Woodstock, NY. The two names reflect two sides of the same practice - the functional craft of custom woodworking, and the artistic ambition that has defined Stephen's work for more than six decades.
Stephen Robin grew up in Brooklyn with a natural instinct for making things. At 12 he built his first workbench. After studying Mechanical Technology and working as a metal fabricator in Queens, he relocated to Woodstock in 1965, put a sign in his yard, and never looked back. Within a few years he had visited the legendary Wendell Castle, acquired the tools, and was producing gallery-quality furniture entirely his own.
Over the following decades Stephen became a representative for the American Craft Council in New York, exhibiting at museums, teaching at community colleges, and meeting two of the towering figures of American craft - George Nakashima and Sam Maloof. The shop he and his partner Joany Elliott built on four acres outside Woodstock grew into one of the most capable custom woodworking facilities in the Hudson Valley, anchored by a large-format CNC router acquired in 2007 with a U.S. Forest Service grant. It has been featured on the front page of Woodshop News.
Now in his late eighties, Stephen brings the same standards to every project he has always brought. The full range of the shop's capabilities - fine furniture, custom kitchens, built-in libraries, staircases, millwork, architectural woodwork, and CNC fabrication - is on view at stephenrobinwoodworking.com and in person at the Robin Elliott Gallery at 2488 Route 212 in Woodstock. He is also a certified dealer and installer of Dutch Made Custom Cabinetry.
The pieces in this gallery represent the full arc of that career - from early studio furniture to recent commissions. Each one is an original, built by hand in Woodstock and finished to the highest standards of the craft. Stephen works alongside a co-op of skilled craftspeople, each running their own practice from the same shop, each sharing his commitment to exceptional work.