Joel Scilley

Artist + Joel Scilley

I'm a designer and woodworker.

I was born and raised in suburban Florida. After high school I got as far away from malls and subdivisions as possible, studying the arts - visual art, design, architecture, literature, aesthetic theory - in Western New York, New York City, and Europe. I almost became an architect, almost became a professional academic, and almost became a non-profit civil rights worker. I earned degrees in Art History and English (BA, Hobart), English (MA, Carnegie Mellon), and Media Studies (Ph.D., Pitt). Somewhere along the way, the desire to make things with my hands took over, and I shifted away from academic issues towards the production of physical objects.

Since 1997 I've worked consistently as a design and build carpenter/woodworker. In 2008 I started building handmade audio equipment, which I make under the name Audiowood.

I think of most of my works as small acts of architecture: things that stand on their own, and that suggest an entire way of living. I picture each of my products standing alone in a big, all-white loft in New York City; woody, but not necessarily woodsy.

Since 2008, I've had the privilege of working with clients like Anthropologie, Bushmills, Paramount Pictures, and various A-List celebrities.  Audiowood products have been featured in dozens of major international publications like The New York Times, Wired (Germany), California Home and Design, and Velvet (Italy), and online from Gizmodo to DesignBoom to Metal and dozens of other blogs.  Locally, I was named a "Person to Watch" by New Orleans Magazine, was awarded the "Most Unique Work" award in Contemporary Crafts at the 2015 and 2018 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and most recently, won "Best in Show" at the Green Project's Salvations show of furniture made from reclaimed materials.  

I've lived in the Lower 9th Ward and the 7th Ward, and currently live in the Lower Garden District.

HOLY CROSS 

Meet the Artists

Local art is the lifeblood of our culture and communities. We source work from hundreds of painters, muralists, sculptors, metal workers, printmakers, illustrators, photographers, and textile artists, every one of whom is part of your local community.

fish fish fish
Geraldine Brezca + Christian Schirach ChreegooAndPiruShop
Home Décor
Geraldine Brezca + Christian Schirach
Trumpet Lamp
Wyoming Quinn & Scott Greenfield Pompadour Productions
Home Décor
UPTOWN
Wyoming Quinn & Scott Greenfield
Harlequin Mirror
David Bergeron Bergeron Woodworks
Wood Working / Home Décor
THIBODAUX
David Bergeron
;