Just as every piece of wood cut from a tree deserves purpose, every girl deserves a life of possibilities. Silent Rivers proudly supports Young Women’s Resource Center, a local non-profit that educates and advocates for young women. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we also celebrate the 40th anniversary of YWRC with our donation of another piece of custom furniture for their gala auction.
Alex Schlepphorst and Tom Bloxham from the Silent Rivers Woodshop designed and built this custom table together, giving new purpose and meaning to excess wood from an old project. Support YWRC – bid online to win this table »
For many years now, Silent Rivers has donated custom furniture to YWRC fundraisers. Knowing that self-confident and successful women are as vital to our world’s communities as breath is to our soul, we put a lot of artistry into the custom-made items we donate. How did the magnificent Silent Rivers Woodshop artisans go about creating this custom table?
From unused wood to custom table comfortable in all surroundings
Harkening to the sense of purpose that YWRC programs instill into young women ages 10-21, artisans Tom Bloxham and Alex Schlepphorst always seek to give purpose to any wood in need of a brighter future.
One day after Tom had just finished a project in the woodshop and was getting ready to leave, Alex showed him sketches he was making for this custom hall table. A design that would be comfortable in any style home. A table that is strong yet shapely and petite. A style that is between the place of many styles and is therefore flexible in how it relates to all surrounding styles. In other words, just as YWRC builds confidence in young women, Alex and Tom set out to create a table that is confident in just being itself.
Before Tom could grab his coat and keys, the inspiration of Alex’s muse put him on a new course. He went and found a perfect amount of wood for this size table. The wood was what remained of the Douglas Fir used on an old project. Alex loved the idea, knowing that fir is a lightweight wood, adding to the nimbleness of the hall table he envisioned.
A design that fits confidently into any décor. Size: 49.5″w x 35.5″h x 13.5″d. Support YWRC – bid online to win this table »
Collaborative furniture design leads to unique table legs
Collaborative furniture design leads to unique table legsAlex and Tom have a magically collaborative way of working together when they create custom furniture. The design evolves quickly and organically. Tom loved how Alex was intentionally creating a flexible style. Not quite country, not exactly a cabaret shape, almost an Asian influence — it was about balance and adaptability.
Taking that queue, Tom sketched a thicker version of the silhouette style leg Alex had designed. At once, it became the perfect statement on feminine strength. The powerful, self-assertive legs anchor this hall table with a strong statement from which everything else begins to taper upward. The result is a spirited, clean silhouette with sturdy balance.
This is yet another excellent example of the collaborative approach to design that flows throughout Silent Rivers. The enjoyment of creating art is a steady heartbeat here.
Built with timeless craftsmanship
Wood drawer glides and wooden drawer stop are pleasing details of this custom table.
Tom and Alex, like the whole team at Silent Rivers, are true artisans. To celebrate timeless craftsmanship, they built this hall table the old fashioned way. No hardware; all wood runners on the drawer with a wooden stop that keeps the drawer from falling out. They love to blend form and function. The drawer built into the petite top is sized right for those little drop zone items such as keys, chargers, remotes, sunglasses, etc.
The modest-sized top is balanced with a lower shelf held securely by fine wood joinery. A perfect place to hold a basket for scarves and gloves, a stack of books or as we’ve done, display beautiful natural sculptures of wood!
About the YWRC Gala: Celebrating 40 years
Young Women’s Resource Center is a wonderful organization to support! For 4o years, they have provided programming for all young women, no matter what they may be going through. YWRC helps young women understand themselves as strong, smart, creative and confident women.
As one of their biggest fundraisers, this year’s YWRC Gala features a silent auction, wine pull, dinner, live auction and raffle for packages you won’t want to miss. Following dinner, awards will be presented for the 2018 Louise Noun Visionary Woman and Woman of Worth (WOW), honoring both a local leader who uplifts community members and two YWRC clients who are positive role models for their peers.
Join us Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 5:30pm at The Ron Pearson Center in West Des Moines. Tickets are $125 for individuals, $65 for under 35 years of age or $1,000 for tables of ten.
Bid online now for silent auction & raffle items »
For questions on Silent Rivers custom furniture services, please contact us!
YWRC Marketing & Events Coordinator Erin Moran (left) and Executive Director Kristin Griffith (right) were happy to receive the custom table Silent Rivers donated to their auction. We are happy to know our artistry supports such a worthwhile cause!
