David Ellsworth

David Ellsworth (June 25, 1944 – June 16, 2025) was an American woodturner known for his tools and techniques for creating thin-walled hollow wood vessels. He began woodturning in 1958 and later earned both BFA and MFA degrees in sculpture from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His work is in the collections of over 40 museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he received the Smithsonian Visionary Award in 2021.

Early life and education Ellsworth was born in Iowa City, Iowa and moved to Boulder, Colorado at age 14. He first encountered woodturning there in 1958 during an eighth-grade industrial arts class, where he crafted a walnut platter for his mother. After high school, he served in the U.S. Army, performing with the Army Air Defense Command Choir for two years and then was stationed for a year in Heidelberg, Germany.

Post-military service, Ellsworth pursued studies in architecture at Washington University in St. Louis (1965–1966) and fine arts at the New School for Social Research in New York City (1966–1970). He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture in 1971 and a Master of Fine Arts in 1973 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. During his graduate studies, he explored various media, including ceramics, cast metals, and polyester resin, which informed his later approach to woodturning. The following year, he opened his first private woodturning studio in Boulder, Colorado. During this period, he developed specialized bent turning tools and techniques for creating thin-walled hollow forms, a method he termed "blind turning." This innovation allowed for the creation of vessels with walls as thin as 1/16 inch, extending possibilities within woodturning.

Teaching and influence Ellsworth has taught at Anderson Ranch, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and Penland School of Craft. In 1990, he founded the Ellsworth School of Woodturning in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, later relocating it to Weaverville, North Carolina, in 2017.

Ellsworth was a founding member of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW) and served as its first president from 1986 to 1990.

Artistic style and philosophy Ellsworth's work is characterized by minimalist forms that emphasize the natural beauty of wood. His vessels often feature narrow openings and delicate walls, challenging traditional notions of functionality. He draws inspiration from Native American pottery, particularly the works of Hopi-Tewa potter Nampeyo, the architecture of the American Southwest, and the inherent qualities of wood, which he describes as "the most perfectly imperfect material to work with."

Series After starting out in the 1970s turning functional wooden items such as salt, pepper, and sugar containers, Ellsworth shifted to artistic hollow form bowls, then vessels, and finally to work in artistic series for the rest of his career. His major series include Spheres, Spirit Forms, Black Pots, the Solstice Series of wood sculptures, and the Emergence Series.

Collections David Ellsworth's wood-turned vessels and sculptures are in the permanent collections of numerous museums.

Museums in the United States

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA Smithsonian American Art Museum – Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C. Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York, NY High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA Mint Museum of Art + Design, Charlotte, NC Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX Museum of Fine Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA Westum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI World Forestry Center Museum, Portland, OR White House Collection of American Crafts, Washington, D.C.

International Collections

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France Kunstindustrimuseet (Museum of Decorative Arts), Copenhagen, Denmark

Exhibitions David Ellsworth's wood art has been in numerous exhibitions across the United States:

Museum exhibits

American Craft Museum "Craft America-Poetry Of The Physical." 1987 "The Art Of Woodturning." 1983 "Tea Service." 1993 "New Acquisitions". 1999 "Expressions In Wood: The Wornick Collection".1998 Arkansas Arts Center - "Moving Beyond Tradition: A Turned-wood Invitational". Little Rock, AR 1997 Museum of Fine Arts, Arizona State University - "Turned Wood Now: Redefining The Lathe Turned Object". Tempe, AZ 1995, 1997 Bishop Museum Of Fine Arts - "Hawaii Craftsmen", Honolulu, HI. 1986, 1997 Museum For Art In Wood - "Eight ACC Fellows". October, Phila, PA Corning Museum Of Glass - "Woodturning." Corning, New York. 1979 Craft & Folk Art Museum - "The Vessel: Studies In Form & Media", Los Angeles, CA. 1989 Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco — "Contemporary Works From The Saxe Collection San Francisco, CA. 1999 Greenville County Museum Of Art - "Gallery Of Turned Objects." Greenville, SC. 1982 High Museum Of Art "By The Hand:Twentieth Century Crafts". Atlanta, GA. 1990 "Shop Traditions/studio Expressions". Atlanta, GA. 1988 "Permanent Collection". Atlanta, GA. 1993 Hunterdon Museum Of Art - Clinton, Nj. 2018 Huntington Museum Of Art - "New Masters Workshop". Huntington, Wv. 1991 James A. Michener Art Museum - "In Our Circle". Doylestown, Pa. 1991 Jesse Besser Museum Of Art - Alpena, MI. 1985 Kunstindustrie Museum Of Art - "Celebrating American Craft". Copenhagen, Denmark. 1997 Mitchell Museum - "Past & Present: Ongoing Traditions In American Craft Art." Mt. Vernon, IL. 1993 Monmouth Museum - "Contemporary Arts: An Expanding View". Lincroft, NJ. 1986 Musee Des Arts Decoratifs - "Crafts Today Usa" Paris, France. 1989 Museum Of Art - "Aha Hana Lima". Honolulu, HI. 1997 National Gallery Of American Art - "The White House Craft Collection", Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1995 Nueberger Museum Of Art - "Jacobson Collection", Suny, Purchase, NY. 1993 Oakland Museum Of California - "Expressions In Wood: Masterworks From The Wornick Collection". Oakland, CA. 1997 Peabody Essex Museum Of Art - Salem, MA Philadelphia Museum Of Art - "Vessel" Philadelphia, PA. 1989 Port Of History Museum - "International Turned Objects Show." Philadelphia, Pa. 1988 Port Of History Museum - "Challenge IV". Philadellphia, PA. 1991 Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution - "The Art of Turned Wood Bowls" Washington, D.C. 1986 Renwick Gallery Of The Smithsonian Institution - "Renwick At 25", Washington, D.C. 1997 Sheldon Memorial Art Museum - Lincoln, Ne. 1979 SOFA Chicago - November 6–8. William Zimmer Gallery Georgia Museum of Art & Heritage - "From Ancient Craft to Fine Art". Tifton, GA. 1997 Trenton City Museum Of Art - "The Forest Refined." Trenton, NJ. 1992 Woodmere Art Museum - "Pennsylvania Lathe-turned Objects: 1700-1990". Philadelphia, PA. 1999

Solo exhibits

Bellas Artes Gallery - New York City, NY. 1991 Bellas Artes Gallery - Santa Fe, NM. 1989 Cooper-lynn Gallery - New York City, NY, 1985 Del Mano Gallery - Los Angeles, CA. 1997, 2000 Great American Gallery - Atlanta, GA. 1984, 1987 Hand And Spirit Gallery - Scottsdale, AZ. 1994 Hunterdon Museum Of Art - Clinton, NJ. 2018 Materia Gallery — Scottsdale, AZ. 1999 Mendelson Gallery - Washington, CT. 1992, 1997 Metropolitan State College - Denver, CO. 1973 Okun Gallery - Santa Fe, NM. 1995 Pritam & Eames - Easthampton, NY. 1983 Pro Art Gallery - St. Louis, MO. 1988 Sheldon Memorial Art Museum - Lincoln, NE. 1979

Awards and recognition Ellsworth has received several awards, including:

National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowship PEW Fellowship for the Arts Honorary Lifetime Member, American Association of Woodturners. College of Fellows, American Craft Council James A. Renwick Alliance "Master of the Medium" Award (2009) Smithsonian Institution's Visionary Award (2021)

Publications and media Ellsworth published the first article on hollow-form turning in Fine Woodworking magazine in 1979.

In 2025, Ellsworth would pass away from a short unspecified illness. Craig Edelbrock, a biographer and fellow woodworker, would establish the David Ellsworth Legacy Project in 2024; this project, made up of Dan Saal, Glenn Adamson, and Edelbrock, is currently responsible for archival and tributes to Ellsworth's life and woodturning legacy. Along with this, the Project is set to publish a book entitled David Ellsworth: The Spirit of Woodturning, featuring a biography (presumably from Edelbrock