"IF I WERE STARTING MY LIFE TODAY AS A CRAFTSMAN, AND NEEDED TO LEARN WHAT MATTERS THE MOST; MY CHOICE WOULD BE INSIDE PASSAGE SCHOOL." — JAMES KRENOV
beyond
Our Impractical Cabinetmaker Program consists of four ten-week programs, exploring the wood, tools and details of fine cabinetmaking. The program provides students with the opportunity to develop an intimate relationship with our chosen material and the teachings of James Krenov. Students may enter the first program, Impractical Studies at each of three intakes throughout the year.
Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking does not provide career trades training, but rather quality craft education for the aspiring amateur. We offer not a way to make a living, but a way of life.
"I'm an amateur and always will be. Thats the way I want to die. I'm an amateur by nature and I'm an amateur in fact. And David Pye wrote somewhere that the best work of this century would certainly be done by amateurs." - James Krenov
Amateur Development
“Wanting to be a craftsman, or a woodworker, there are, I believe limited choices. The emphasis these days is on novelty, efficiency with very little individual contribution; many schools follow this trend. There are relatively few schools, in fact very few schools that educate a person to become a complete craftsman in wood. One of the schools I have been following and observing is at Roberts Creek in Canada, it is called Inside Passage School. I know the people there, I like what they are doing and I like very much the way they are doing it. The emphasis is on hand skills, not primitive methods but efficient skills. Work that that can be traced to the maker, the hand, the eye and the heart. The staff is open and warm and generous and there is an opportunity there at Roberts Creek to develop the skills that support this approach. In fact the kind of work that I have for many years encouraged, the craftsman as an individual. I think that this will emerge gradually as the school for the complete craftsman. If I were starting my life today as a craftsman, and needed to learn what matters the most; my choice would be Inside Passage School." - James Krenov
Please see our testimonials page to read what some of our students have said about their time at our school. Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking is located on Keats Island on the beautiful Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.