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San Diego State University Furniture Design and Woodworking

San Diego State University’s Furniture Design and Woodworking program centers making as a critical design practice. Students engage woodworking as both craft and concept, combining material exploration, technical mastery, and contemporary design inquiry. The program fosters designers who think through their hands and build with intention.

❋ Dedicated Faculty

Experienced designers and makers provide hands-on mentorship and individualized guidance throughout the program.

❋ Residency Program

Visiting artists bring fresh perspectives through workshops, critiques, and immersive studio engagement.

❋ Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students build a strong foundation in furniture design and woodworking through hands-on studio courses that emphasize material exploration, technical skill, and design thinking. The program supports curiosity, experimentation, and the development of a personal design voice.

❋ Graduate Students

Graduate students engage in advanced, research-driven studio practice focused on concept, craft, and critical inquiry. The program supports independent exploration, rigorous critique, and the production of refined, thoughtful work rooted in material and process.

Find your voice in wood through hands-on design and making, developing skill, confidence, and a personal design language rooted in material and process.

Residency Program

The SDSU Furniture Design and Woodworking program fosters a vibrant, studio-centered environment that supports creative growth, material exploration, and rigorous practice. Artists working in furniture and related fields are integrated into the program’s academic and making culture, engaging with undergraduate and graduate students while developing their own work. Through shared studio access, dialogue, and exhibition-based outcomes, the program emphasizes community, collaboration, and the advancement of contemporary furniture practice.

Residency Hub
Past Residents
Current Residents

Student Work

Undergraduate Students

Graduate Students

Click here to apply!

  • "This program has opened up so many doors, and I continue to discover new opportunities to explore my creativity and develop my skills in a robustly supportive environment."

    Zachary Brown, current MFA student

  • In SDSU’s furniture program, we approach furniture, in all of its functions and meanings, in a broadly inclusive way. We understand and embrace the fact that this kind of material and craft knowledge can apply to a wide range of practices in and therefore take an individualized approach. As an alum of the MFA program, I am acutely aware of how important it is as a student to feel unrestrained in one’s artistic journey and try to live by this as a teacher in a program that I have a deep connection with.

    Professor Adam John Manley