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Why Choose a Professional artist?
Inevitably, at some point during any liturgical project planning the issue arises as to who you intend to commission to design and fabricate your furniture pieces. Should you hire a generic professional "carpenter"? Should you try for a bargain by hiring parish "volunteers" or other hobbyist woodworker? Or, should you seek out and commission a professional liturgical artisan?
There are always many decisions to be made, but the decision you make here can spell success or distress for this very visible portion of your project. It is going to be, by it's nature, a visual focal point of your liturgical life, and your going to have to live with it for a long, long time.
Should you choose a professional carpenter?
Keep in mind, the term "professional carpenter", even one with an excellent reputation, is a blanket term that covers anything from applying shingles to a roof, to hanging drywall, to rough construction framing, to installing kitchen cabinets. Consider if your candidate is experienced in working within the exacting tolerances and minute details of fine furniture fabrication. And, always keep in mind that the term "professional carpenter" includes any person who has ever driven a nail into a board and been paid for it. It does not reflect a level of quality - only a fact of employment.
What about volunteers and hobbyists?
When considering the nostalgia and perceived cost savings of hiring an individual or team of parishioner "volunteers" or another local hobbyist woodworker to tackle your liturgical furniture needs, I would caution you to keep in mind the many unknowns that this path will present to you. It can be a lot like taking your hard won project funding - the result of the sacrifice and generosity of your parishioners - and taking it to the local casino and betting it all on your lucky number, in an effort to make a little extra money. The chance you are taking may not end up in your favor. There are a lot of excellent hobbyist craftspeople out there, and I don't want to place a shadow over their legitimate creative endeavors, but if you make the wrong choice, even for the right reasons, it is the decision makers, not the volunteers or hobbyist, that suffer the consequences. The volunteer or hobbyist does not - after all, the decision maker(s) is the one who chose not hire a professional!
why hire a professional artist continued - next page
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