Karen Ernst

Karen Ernst is a Professor in the Art Department at Pennsylvania West University - Edinboro, where she has been teaching all levels of woodworking and furniture design since 2004. Originally from East Aurora, NY, she received a B.A. in Studio Art from SUNY Geneseo in 1998, and her M.F.A in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002. She has been serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Furniture Society since 2018 and recently completed a 2-year term as the Board President. She maintains an active studio practice, exhibiting the furniture and sculptural objects she makes in art venues across the U.S. Her work is featured in the Lark Books publications 500 Chairs, 500 Tables, and 500 Cabinets, as well as Schiffer Publishing’s The Maker’s Hand: Contemporary Studio Furniture. In 2023, she was selected to become a Roycroft Artisan, as part of the Roycrofters at Large Association based in East Aurora, NY.