Artisan Line Furniture

About the Artist

For 30 years, artist Tom Svec has been hand crafting artistic and functional furniture from his Great Island, Pa., studio. His woodworking career took off when his work, especially his rocking chair, was lauded at the 1982 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Ironically, Tom’s first spot at that Arts Festival was along the Mall under the famed Elm trees. Since then, Tom has created more than 600 rocking chairs, benches and custom pieces from Pennsylvania hardwoods, which have stood the test of time. While not a Penn State grad himself, Tom says his mother, a 1938 Penn State alum, remembers fondly the beauty of the stately trees and is thrilled at the prospect of seeing those trees repurposed into design objects that will allow them to live on forever.