Community Spotlight: Isaac Gewirth

Isaac Gewirth is one of our newer instructors, but they already have an impressive roster of beloved wood carving classes and workshops. We sat down with Isaac for this month’s Community Spotlight to learn more about their growing relationship with the Eliot School and how they see it evolving in the future. 

Isaac has some exciting new classes coming this summer, so check them out here and sign up for some ASAP! 

Transcript

Isaac: Hi, my name is Isaac. I'm a carving teacher here at the Eliot School. 

What is your favorite artistic medium?  

Isaac: I work primarily in wood, but I really love working in a lot of different media. I draw a lot. I am sometimes sketching around. I've also done some ceramics, some metals, and am getting into sewing. So, I really just like working with my hands and making things. And while my home is in wood, I'm excited about incorporating lots of different methods and materials into that as well.

How did you get involved with the Eliot School? 

Isaac: One of my mentors, Annie Meyer, used to teach here, and they told me about the Eliot School. So, I just contacted V, and we started talking, and I had a bunch of ideas for classes, and since then, I’ve been proposing different classes and having a lot of fun teaching. 

What has kept you involved with Eliot School since you got here? 

Isaac: I think that it's a very kind of low stakes community in many ways. And I feel like it's very easy to be like, “Oh, I want to do this thing. Let's make it happen and let's plan it.” And I think that just feels exciting and makes it so I can have a bunch of ideas, they can be quickly iterated, and we can think about and make up new classes.

I'm really excited. This summer I'm teaching a class. I’m going to be teaching a part where we’re making wooden buttons, and my friend Amanda is going to be teaching pillow sewing, and then we're going to be crossing those mediums. I think with a smaller institution like this, you get that kind of flexibility. 

At first, I was very much kind of feeling very new here, but now I have my own tool cabinet, so that's exciting. Plus, I think I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the teaching, and now I'm starting to teach more furniture-based classes that are a little bit more intermediate. 

What are your hopes for the future of the Eliot School, and your future at the Eliot School? 

Isaac: I have a lot of classes that I want to think about and do. While also moving into asking how craft can be harnessed to help and enable communities to create the physical environments in which they live. So, how could we bring in a group of people that share space together, figure out what they would want to make together, and then make that happen? 

Anything else you want to share, plug, or tell us about? 

Isaac: I have a bunch of classes coming up. Two new classes, one on making a herb planter box, and one on doing a little milk stool. So, both of those will be a lot of fun!