NMU among top 10 furniture design programs

MARQUETTE — In March, Northern Michigan University was ranked among the top ten schools with a furniture design program by The Art Career Project, an online resource for art students and professionals. Students who learn about furniture design at NMU have a better chance to be better off.

To be on a top 10 list, your characteristics need to be unique. While NMU’s furniture design program’s characteristics may define more than one school, they give the program credit that not many other can boast about.

Part of what makes the program so unique is the space available for students to work. The amount of space gives students a chance to work more freely.

“We have a wonderful woodshop, very safe, a great safe environment for students to work,” said Associate Professor Jason Schneider.

The Art & Design program uses a multitude of different materials to create furniture, giving each piece a unique background and function.

“Thinking of furniture not just in the sense of wood, but also in metals, in ceramic, and get to try a bunch of different materials, it’s very exciting to see what students can come up with,” said Schneider.

“Having the ability to work in different disciplines and for students to have the ability to learn about different material processes, and explore the functionality and the ergonomics of furniture is a really important element to it,” added Professor Peter Pless.

The space available and smaller class sizes give the professors a chance to help out and get involved as well.

“All of the faculty are engaged in the making of it too, so seeing that reality come into the picture where it’s not just about a pretty looking image of a design,” said Pless.