Instructors and Staff
Steven Bennett - Instructor
Steven Bennett is a teacher and custom woodworker. He received his BA at Pratt Institute where he made his first piece of furniture, including a reading chair carved out of a tree from Prospect Park. His focus is on hardwood custom furniture, paying special attention to traditional joinery, ergonomics, and using quality sustainable materials and methods for unique pieces that will last for generations. He is also an expert in woodbending, including steam and lamination techniques. He has been designing and making custom furniture since 2005, and began teaching at Makeville in 2015.
Steven Ceraso - Instructor
Steven Ceraso is an accomplished fine artist and woodworker. Steven has previously taught and worked as a technical assistant at 3rd Ward Brooklyn, Long Island University, The New York Studio School, and Parsons School of Design. His work has been exhibited at Fountain Art Fair, Williamsburg Art Walks, The Parrish Museum, Angels Gate Cultural Art Center, The Carnegie Museum, and Adelphi University. Steven's sculptural work combines repurposed materials with hand crafted forms. He is currently working on a relief carving commission for Iona College.
Bridget Conway - Instructor and Shop Monitor
I'm a woodworker with a studio art background, and approach woodworking by prioritizing safety and understanding of the process. Available for beginner lessons that focus on the basics of a woodworking practice, building confidence, and understanding safe approaches to handheld and power tools.
Alan Dorsey - Instructor
Alan Dorsey has been woodworking professionally since 2002 with a focus on residential cabinetry and custom furniture. He began woodturning in 2008 and produces furniture parts, architectural components, positives for casting (metals, ceramic, concrete, etc.), prototypes for product design, as well as his own sculptural artistic works. Showing a preference for distressed or difficult woods in his own work he strives to exaggerate natural textures by framing them in simplified classical elements and forms.
Jenna Goodman - Studio Manager and Instructor
I'm a former mechanical engineer and primarily self-taught woodworker and artist. I make playful and functional objects, furniture, and sculpture using a mixture of machines and hand tools. As a teacher I aim to make the wood shop a comfortable environment for anyone and everyone. My specialties include machine safety and skill building, simple furniture design, and finding ways to turn scrap wood into useful and beautiful household objects.
Kelly Harris - Instructor
Kelly Harris is a Woodworker/Furniture Maker/Designer/Teacher. Kelly builds custom pieces out of her shop in Brooklyn, NY and teaches woodworking at Makeville Studio in Brooklyn, NY and at the North Bennet St. School in Boston MA. Her focus is on working wood by both machine and hand with a focus to the details of fine woodworking. Every piece she builds is touched by hand tools and built with care, consideration and respect for where the material came from and is going to. She graduated from the North Bennet St. School, Cabinet and Furniture making program in 2017, and also studied at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine. She was awarded the 2017 Future Craftsmen Scholarship from Oneida. Kelly is also a musician and life long learner of whatever curiosities arise.
www.kellyhappis.com / @kellyhappis
Laurent Merceron - Instructor
I'm a former magazine editor and mostly self-taught woodworker. I'm passionate about teaching a mix of power and hand tools to make simple, elegant designs. Specializing in creative problem solving, machine safety and technique, and building beginner confidence.
Robyn Mierzwa - Owner/Founder
Robyn founded Makeville Studio in 2008 as a way to develop and share her passion for making. Having studied architectural engineering and worked for almost 20 years as an architectural lighting designer, she has also been a life-long self-taught woodworker. In addition to designing and building custom furniture and lighting, Robyn loves teaching--for the enjoyment of getting to share what she has learned over the years and for the privilege of being a part of others' creative journeys.
Lisa Nguyen
I’m an artist and woodworker, primarily making furniture. I love using the lathe to create columns, handles, and legs for my work and am constantly thinking of ways to integrate cast metal and textiles with wood. My practice includes spindle and bowl turning, furniture design, and simple upholstery, all with a focus on machine safety and building an understanding of process.
Eva Sturm-Gross - Shop Monitor and Instructor
Eva Sturm-Gross is an artist and woodworker originally from Vermont. She graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in studio art and religion. She has studied and worked at multiple craft schools around the country and her prints and sculptures have been exhibited nationally. She loves all things wood and trees but is at heart devoted to whittling. Eva is interested in art as a form of creative exegesis by which to reinterpret traditional texts.