The Great Sphinx Project

On a crisp fall day in October 2009, Handshouse Studio and Egyptologist Mark Lehner began a project to replicate the colossal stone nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza. This project marked another joint effort between Handshouse's Rick and Laura Brown and Dr. Lehner to investigate a historical mystery of ancient Egypt. In the process, they and Providence Pictures have created a film on the Great Sphinx for WGBH's Nova to be broadcast January 2010. Read more.

Oberlin Exhibition: "Wooden Synagogues: Recovering History Through Art and Architecture"

A new exhibition on view at Oberlin College’s Mudd Center through November 20, 2009, features the magnificent wooden synagogues of Poland built in the 17th and 18th centuries. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the 13' replica of a bimah, a synagogue platform for reading the Torah, stretching to the ceiling of the Mudd Center gallery.

Visit the Oberlin website here.

The Oberlin exhibition features models of two synagogues built in the Jewish market towns Zabludow in 1637 and Gwozdziec in 1731. There are also colorful elaborately painted ceiling panels, which were were under the Browns’ direction by a group of Oberlin students during winter term workshops at Oberlin in 2005 and 2009. The full-scale models of the Zabludow synagogue log wall and entry door were hand-made using traditional materials and techniques of carving, turning, joinery, and steam bending. Read more.

Gwozdziec Synagogue Booklet Available

A new booklet is available for purchase and/or download detailing Handshouse’s proposal to make the Gwozdziec Synagogue roof and ceiling for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The booklet was produced with the museum for the purpose of fund raising for the project.

Download it here in the form of a PDF.
Or you may order it online.

Chesterwood Sculpture on Display

Rick Brown's sculpture was on display at Chesterwood 2009 sculpture exhibit in Stockbridge, Mass.

Zabludow Synagogue Door Replication Workshop

During a four-day workshop, some 40 people turned several large logs and pine boards into a full scale model of the section of the 1637 Zabludow synagogue log wall, door jamb, door and forged hinges, using only traditional hand tools. Participants learned how to square the logs with axes and then rip cut the logs with a frame pit saw and a whip pit saw under the leadership of Jim Kricker, Michael Burrey and Pret Woodburn. Read about it.

Medieval Crane at Prague Castle

Handshouse Studio participated in a major international Czech exhbition with MassArt alums who helped raise and test a human-powered Medieval crane. Period technologies were used to make a replica of a medieval crane and installed it at Prague Castle. Read more.

Gwozdziec Synagogue Bimah Project

Handshouse Studio held a workshop to build a full-size replica of the Gwozdziec Synagogue's bimah, the elevated platform where a rabbi reads from the Torah. The elaborate bimah is wooden and all hand carved. More info.

Gwozdziec Synagogue
Wooden Ceiling Painting Replica

The Gwozdziec Synagogue was a remarkable wooden synagogue built in the Polish Lithuanian Empire in 1731 and destroyed during World War II. Working with faculty and historic experts, students researched and painted the complex historic images of the north vaulted ceiling. The students brought to life the photographs and showed the broad palate of intense colors that saturated the prayer hall with intricate designs like those of an oriental carpet. Read more.