Biography

For over 30 years I have pursued a career of studio furniture work. I have maintained workshops in my native San Francisco Bay Area, the mountains of Colorado, and, since 2008, in Western North Carolina.

I design and execute projects ranging in scale and scope from residential, functional furniture to public installations, for both interior spaces and landscape settings. The aesthetic of my work is informed by my architecture background, a life-long interest in Japanese design and an upbringing grounded in the natural landscapes of the West. 

I employ a vocabulary of minimal architectural forms, and use a wide range of materials: wood, steel, concrete, stone and cast glass. Although the character of my work has evolved over the years, my aesthetic has consistently been driven by an affinity for articulated structure, the nature of functional objects in reference to time and ritual, and my desire to create quiet, fully resolved compositions of contrasting elements.

My furniture is in the permanent collections of SFMOMA, the Oakland Museum, the Fuller Craft Museum, Stanford University Memorial Chapel and the AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.

Throughout my studio career I have contributed significantly to my field through teaching and arts administration work. I have taught extensively at the college level nationwide and in summer workshop programs at Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. I served as Director of the Furniture and Wood Turning Programs at Anderson Ranch from 1993 to 2001 and am currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design.

Gail Fredell

Assistant Professor
gfredell@risd.edu

• BARC, University of California, Berkeley
• MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology

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