WIW Gallery

The Women's Woodworking Guild of Colorado: Beginnings

It's hard to say whether or not the Women's Woodworking Guild of Colorado would even exist today if it had not been for the 86 balustrades that Pamela Philpott-Jones needed to turn for a staircase in her family's finely crafted fixer-upper. Having never turned before, she started in the middle of the stock for the first balustrade, and immediately realized that she wasn't going to get far in her fixing efforts if she didn't learn woodworking techniques.

Luckily, on a trip to the lumberyard she met Master Woodworker Paul McClure. She explained her problem to him, and soon became his apprentice. Eventually they ended up writing a book together, Woodworking for the Serious Beginner. Cambium Press, the publisher, decided they were "willing to take a chance on a woman," and published the first woodworking how-to book written by a female author.

Pamela Philpott-Jones with Martha Pearce, woodworking student and guild member.

After that, Rich, the manager of Rockler's Denver store, asked her to teach woodworking classes for his female customers. She was so nervous she could barely speak, but Rich encouraged her to simply tell her audience of 17 women what she knew about woodworking. She did, and the class was such a hit that Rich asked her to teach another one. She had vowed to never do this again, and begged Rich to find a replacement. But he couldn't. Woodworking was such a new hobby for women that there weren't any other women in the area who had mastered it. So, despite her aversion to public speaking, Pamela quickly found herself to be "the only female shop teacher in Colorado." It was from the popularity of these classes that the Women's Woodworking Guild of Colorado was born.

Pamela and two of her students spent the summer of 1999 setting up this non-profit organization. Charter members included 27 of Pamela's original students, who quickly spread the word. It took less than two years for the guild to grow to its current 62 members.