29 Apr 2024 Hands-on furniture building enhances college curriculum

A year ago, UA Little Rock student Kimberly Arcega had never considered building large oak tables for the benefit of her fellow university students, let alone learning all the skills that would be required to build them.

“This was a huge learning experience as I had never built anything this big before,” said Arcega, a senior applied design major with an emphasis in woodworking. “I got firsthand experience on the business side of being a custom furniture builder and learned important new skills along the way.”

Dr. Hank Bray, chair of the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering, was on the lookout for an artist to build some custom tables for a student lounge and computer lab that was being renovated in the Engineering and Applied Technology Sciences building.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to look than our own School of Art and Design,” Bray said. “We have some very talented students there. I thought it would be wonderful if one of our own students created furniture that will be used and enjoyed by their fellow students.”

The School of Art and Design recommended Arcega, and the rest is history. In January 2023, she began work on two custom tables that are approximately eight feet long and 43 inches wide and weigh about 400 pounds each. The tables can seat at least 12 people and are custom made from oak trees from the university campus, which Arcega milled herself.

“I wanted to preserve the natural beauty of the trees, emphasizing the natural knotting and edges,” Arcega said. “I wanted to preserve the trees as much as possible because these trees are a part of campus and a part of this land. I preserved the live edges of the trees, and the tables are set on structural steel frames that I fabricated myself. I had never welded before, so this is another new skill I picked up during the project.”

The tables are housed in a student lounge and computer lab, whose renovation was sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Arkansas. The lab is a place where students can study, hang out between classes, collaborate with fellow students, and hold student organization meetings. It was recently dedicated on March 7. 

“This is a special place for students,” Bray said. “The tables create a homey atmosphere for students, and they have the perfect height to encourage student collaboration. The tables are real pieces of functional art that will be appreciated and used for years and years to come. These tables are built to last forever.”

Arcega estimates that she spent around 250 hours building the tables, and she is very grateful for the new skills she learned that will be helpful to her career as an artist – how to submit a bid for a professional job, milling lumber, and welding.

“I am very proud of the work I’ve done and the growth I’ve gotten from doing this project,” Arcega said. “I had doubts because I had never done anything like this, and there are growing pains when you learn new skills that you are not familiar with. I am grateful for all of the help and support I received from Hank Bray and the School of Art and Design professors.”