Loyal patrons of the Hammerstone Carpentry School for Women gathered at 720 West Green St. on Monday, July 15 to celebrate the opening of a second location with a ribbon cutting and words of gratitude.
Since its farmhouse founding, the business has aimed to empower female students in skilled trades work, a field typically dominated by men. As supporters helped themselves to Que Sera cheese boards, owner Maria Klemperer-Johnson welcomed Hammerstone’s future with a walk down memory lane.
Festivities at this new space marked the 10-year anniversary of Hammerstone’s founding. Klemperer-Johnson began the school after Trumansburg resident Liz Coakley approached her about constructing a tiny house. After started a Ph.D. in geology at Cornell, Klemperer-Johnson transitioned into the carpentry industry.
In early 2013, the pair hung flyers at GreenStar Food Co-Op and Gimme! Coffee and were pleasantly surprised when classes filled within their first two weeks. The school officially began instruction later the same year.
The addition of the new downtown location was a necessary step in expansion, according to Klemperer-Johnson. The Hammerstone team particularly looks forward to having a comfortable space for the winter, as the barn lacks insulation to keep students warm. The new location will allow teachers to expand programs throughout the entire year.
“This larger winterized space allows us to get more tools, more table saws [and] more chop saws set up and usable,” Klemperer-Johnson said. “So we can expand a lot of our woodworking classes.”
Kimberly Wiman, Hammerstone’s social media maven, also explained that the new location ensures an easier commute for students.
“We want to make our classes more accessible to people who aren’t able to drive to a rural area,” Wiman said. “We’re hoping that this location [which is] accessible to transit will open that up.”
Accessibility is one of Hammerstone’s central goals as a business that caters to women and non-binary individuals. One way the carpentry school works to achieve this goal is by partnering with other organizations that serve the Ithaca community.
During the opening ceremony, Klemperer-Johnson expressed appreciation for local Girl Scouts troops, The Youth Farm Project and the Lehman Alternative Community School. Although she admitted that introducing carpentry to children is no easy feat, both organizations have worked with Hammerstone to make the trades more accessible to young women.
Klemperer-Johnson also thanked Open Doors English for collaborating with Hammerstone since 2016. The language school has worked with Klemperer-Johnson and associates to run a free course for immigrants in the Ithaca area. As increasing female employment in the trades is a core attribute of Hammerstone’s mission, this program is a subject of immense pride for its coordinators.
Hammerstone also adjusts tuition to offer opportunities across different wage demographics.
“We offer sliding scale tuition,” Wiman said. “People who have lower disposable incomes can afford classes and people with more disposable incomes can contribute.”
The school’s popular two-day basic carpentry skills courses are priced at $270 to $570, depending on customer budget. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on two consecutive days, this class introduces carpentry fundamentals while students build a pair of sawhorses.
Building on a legacy of accessibility, Hammerstone leaders and board members have worked to certify Hammerstone as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Non-profit status allows the school to accept donations and apply for increased funding.
Ann Ellsworth, chair of the Hammerstone board, said she has advocated for Hammerstone to make this transition for years.
“Hammerstone is going to provide access to women and gender minorities to enter the trades with confidence,” Ellsworth said.
Teacher’s assistant and former student Kelly Cobb credits Hammerstone’s focus on female and non-binary education as key to the business’s success as it facilitates a more comfortable environment for some students.
“I’ve definitely seen students be more open and willing to ask questions that they may otherwise pretend to know the answer to,” Cobb said. “It’s a very welcoming and cohesive environment when the class is focused on female participation.”
Instructors said that it is easier to discuss the conflicts women face in the trades with students since they can relate to the issue personally.
Though classes are a form of recreation, participants rise above stereotypes by discovering how to build, Klemperer-Johnson said, crediting students for their courage.
“Thank you for being brave enough to learn something that we might’ve been told we can’t do, is dangerous for us to do, that we shouldn’t do,” Klemperer-Johnson said. “Whether we’re hearing those voices out loud or have internalized them, it takes some bravery to go and learn these skills that haven’t traditionally been for us to participate in.”
Kira Walter is a reporter from the Cornell Daily Sun working on The Sun’s summer fellowship at The Ithaca Times. This piece was originally published in The Ithaca Times.