Photo by David Garrett.
Some would say that woodworking is a dying art. Once the mainstay of shop classes that were popular among boys in junior high school and high school, woodworking has, to a great extent, been replaced by other pursuits.
A new organization called Magic City Woodworks wants to bring woodworking back to life for young men in Birmingham by offering an apprenticeship program that would teach them how to make everything from chopping blocks to tables and chairs, as well as how to be a good employee or run a business.
“I feel there’s a generation in Birmingham that needs to learn to work with their hands, their minds and their hearts to make locally produced works,” says Lawrence Sheffield IV, Magic City Woodworks’ executive director. He says there is “a large group of idle hands in the city. When people build things, they come together.”
Sheffield says the idea for Magic City Woodworks grew from a seed to a topic of discussion between him and other Christian men. From there it has grown to an organization that has applied for federal nonprofit status and has plans to work with men ages 18 to 25. “I can’t tell you how many times I have walked around town, talking to strangers…asking questions about what could benefit the youth in our city,” he says. “In a technology-driven world, there is a risk to forget about the basics.”
He adds, “That is what the city was built on. Technology is great. We incorporate it in our program, but there is no substitute for sweat on your brow.”
Sheffield says the people he spoke with around town told him there was a need for a program to teach skills to young men who have graduated from high school but not gone to college or technical school and don’t know what to do next.
Sheffield, 26, a Bluff Park resident, understands the mindset of young men who choose not to further their formal education after high school. He became a firefighter for a Birmingham suburb seven years ago after making that decision himself.
He found himself surrounded by older firefighters who became his mentors. Because firefighters work a schedule of 24 hours on duty and 48 hours off, he says, “Most guys have a skilled trade on the side.”
Sheffield found that several of his colleagues did woodworking and were willing to teach him about it. “I’ve always been into working with my hands,” he says. His interest in woodworking grew, and he began making furniture in his own shop a couple of years ago.
“I’m self-taught in a lot of ways,” he says. “You can get on YouTube and take class after class on how to do things.”
Sheffield says he and his colleagues also help each other out on projects at their homes. “It’s almost like a barn raising,” he says. “Guys really step up and use their different trades to help each other out.”
As his woodworking skills grew, so did his idea for a program for young men. “Magic City Woodworks started two years ago around a kitchen table with just a group of friends,” he says. “We quickly went to, How can we set up a shop where other people can come and train and get a job?”
Sheffield says Magic City Woodworks, which includes a board of directors, is a Christian organization that is supported by the Common Thread Community micro-church group that meets in houses. “We started this with a large group of friends, people from church bouncing ideas about how this could look,” he says.
A Christian for the past three years, Sheffield says, “I feel like it’s in God’s hands” for Magic City Woodworks to be successful. “The Lord is really moving in the city.”
Sheffield now is spending 20 hours or more per week unpaid on Magic City Woodworks business. “A lot of guys spend their time building houses or being electricians,” he says. “I choose to spend my days off equipping other men.” But, he says, he is not the only one working to get Magic City Woodworks off the ground. “It’s a team effort. A lot of people have poured themselves into this,” he says. “We’ve built a community for it. We have a great team.”
One team member is Tim Lawson, a firefighter who is a mentor for the program. He and Sheffield were visiting buildings earlier this week in an attempt to find a more permanent home for Magic City Woodworks. Currently, the program operates in a 1,000-square-foot shop near a home in Bluff Park. Sheffield and Lawson pooled their woodworking tools to furnish the shop.
“Anything takes a little while to build,” Lawson, 38, says. “What we are working at is building foundations…not just in how we mentor young men but also in woodworking. … We want to build good things. We want to teach them how to use a saw, but we also want to teach them about the saw.”
Sheffield and Lawson say the idea is to develop a year-long apprenticeship program that teaches participants woodworking skills as well as life skills. “We understand that our apprentices won’t be full-time woodworkers,” Sheffield says. But the program can give them skills they can use for jobs, teach them about running a business and provide them with something to put on their resumes.
Lawson wants to be an example of a Christian for the apprentices as well. “We want them to see how we respond to them, how we treat our wives and children,” he says. “If we just force feed them Jesus, they’re going to know it.”
He says Magic City Woodworks backers want to have an impact on the city by demonstrating the value of hard work and perseverance. “We want to be productive members of our communities and atmosphere,” he says.
The program is getting off to a slow start while organizers wait for approval of nonprofit status. Sheffield and Lawson hope to find a building whose owner will let Magic City Woodworks use it free or at a low cost. The size of the building will be a big factor in how many apprentices the program will be able to accept at a time. If things go as planned, the apprenticeship program will be in full swing by the spring of 2015.
The first apprentice already is working, and Magic City Woodworks is working with the North Birmingham Recreation Center on programs. In July, children at the recreation center participated in a birdhouse-building program provided by the group.
Sheffield says the organization also has begun taking some orders for furniture, including replacing 12 tables at Blackwell’s Pub in Cahaba Heights. Eventually, when the program is in full swing, the concept will be for buyers to visit Magic City Woodworks, help design the furniture they want and then order it. The teachers and apprentices then will create the pieces to order.
Plans also call for Magic City Woodworks to have a booth at the Christmas Village show at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center this fall, selling things like chopping blocks and ornaments.
Sheffield says one goal of the program is to develop apprentices into young men who teach others and who become leaders in their communities.
“While Magic City Woodworks will be equipping youth with relevant job skills, our main goal is to influence these young men to be leaders by building confidence and encouraging collaboration with the surrounding community. We will create an environment that focuses on teamwork to make a lasting impact on the lives of men that participate with us,” says Alyssa Hagan, the organization’s director of marketing.
For more information on the apprenticeship program, email Magic City Woodworks at magiccitywoodworks@gmail.com. For more information on Magic City Woodworks, visit its Facebook page.
