IN MARFA, TX, every Friday after school, a group of girls, ages 7 through 14, gathers in a shed full of power tools. They call themselves Lumber Club Marfa (lumberclubmarfa.com) and when it comes to woodworking, they’ve nailed it. What began in 2016 as a family activity between artist Larry Bamburg and his daughters Mae (10) and Willa (8), has evolved into a collective of 7 girls supervised by Bamburg that specializes in making threaded, three-legged stools. Each handcrafted chair is available for purchase with proceeds going to a college fund for the group. In addition to teaching carpentry skills and business acumen, the program also boosts the girls’ self-confidence. “You have to have guts to do it,” Mae says of their building projects. “You really have to focus or your hand will be chopped off. You have to be brave.”
By Francesca Volpe
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2020 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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