3 Guiding Principles for the Future As Shannon and I look forward to the next 10 years of producing WCI, we want to share with you the three main principles we’ll be focusing our efforts on. All of these flow from our desire to keep woodcarving thriving, prospering, and receiving the respect it deserves. Standing up for woodcarving as an Art and Craft. We’re going to explore ways to connect the woodcarving world to the broader arts and crafts fields. Museums and galleries are interested in carving, but don’t know where to turn. We want to help them find top carvers and subjects of interest. We also want to put a stop to the many retailers and catalogs that falsely use “hand carved” to describe cheap, foreign manufactured items. The average consumer is misled and doesn’t know the difference. This hurts carving by not recognizing true artistry, as well as hurting a carving artist’s chances of making a living selling their work. Involve the next generation. With the electronic distractions available today, we need to make an intentional effort to get children excited and interested in carving. We want to support today’s carvers and help them pass along the love of carving to the next generation. Support the grassroots— clubs and teachers. Without Ed Gallenstein and the NWCA, carving would never have developed as it has. We’ve been doing many things to help promote clubs, shows, and teachers. But we want to do even more. These three goals are pretty general right now. We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions as we work to flesh them out and make them practical. Please write or email us: Woodcarving Illustrated 1970 Broad Street East Petersburg, PA 17520 Shannon@FoxChapelPublishing.com Happy carving,     Alan Giagnocavo Shannon Flowers