Symposium and Banquet/Auction Gala Registration

• Online registration is now available for AAW members. Click on this link to log onto the members area, where you will be able to register for the symposium. If you are not a current AAW member, click here to join, and then register for the symposium through the member's area.
• Open to anyone with an interest in woodturning. Full registration fee includes demonstrations, Instant Gallery, trade show and auctions.
• Symposium fees are:

  - Through May 15, 2011: $250 for members and $310 for non-members
  - After May 15, 2011: $300 for members and $360 for non-members
  - After June 13 and onsite: $350 for members and $410 for non-members
  - For cancellations through May 15, 2011, a $50 processing fee will be deducted. After May 15, the registration fee is not refundable
  - Click here to see a complete list of fees associated with the 2011 symposium.

• If you would like to mail in your 2011 symposium registration form and check, click on this link and print a copy
• Many areas at the Symposium are open to the public, and do not require registration. These areas include the Instant Gallery, Trade Show, all of the Special Exhibits, and the Educational Opportunity Grant (EOG) auction. The banquet requires a ticket, but after the banquet, the doors will be opened to the public, so galleries and collectors who may not want to attend other symposium functions can bid on EOG auction items. Click Here to submit a piece to the EOG auction.
• Technical and Vocational Ed teacher's symposium registration fee (not including banquet ticket) will be waived upon request - AAW membership required. A Technical and Vocational Ed teacher is defined as: one who works in these fields full-time, and in an accredited public or private grade school, jr high/high school, technical school or college. If you qualify, give the AAW office a call at 651-484-9094 to register.

 Youth Programs

• Youth between the ages of 10 and 17 are eligible to register for free hands-on lathe instruction. Students will be guided by some of the top turners in the field to make a variety of projects, starting with basics and moving beyond. Youth must be accompanied by an adult who is registered for the symposium.
• Click on this link for Youth Workshop details and free registration information

 Instant Gallery

• The Instant Gallery is the largest display of turned-wood objects shown under one roof. It is an amazing showcase of interesting and varied work.
• If you are registered for the Symposium, you can bring three of your best pieces to add to the excitement. (Demonstrators may submit 6 pieces.) While there, vote for your favorite chapter-challenge project!
• Those artists who submit pieces to the Instant Gallery have the option to sell their work while it is on display.

To greatly reduce your wait time while submitting pieces to the Instant Gallery, please fill out the appropriate online form bellow:

• If you are an AAW member and would like to submit works to the Instant Gallery Click Here.
• If you are a demonstrator at the AAW Symposium Click Here.
• If you are a member of the Collectors of Wood Art Click Here.

 Chapter Collaborative Challenge

• See page 13 of the October American Woodturner Journal for rules and other information on the 2011 Chapter Collaborative Challenge.
• Also see pages 10-13 of this same issue for an excellent article on how to organize a successful chapter collaboration project.

 Return to the Community Charity Donations

• AAW's Return to the Community Exhibition is Empty Bowls, a Grassroots Movement to Help End Hunger. The goal of Empty Bowls is to raise money to help fight hunger and raise awareness about the issue of hunger and food security. The proceeds from sales will go to Second Harvest Hartland, the largest hunger relief organization in the upper Midwest.

 Special Exhibitions, Presentations and Auctions

• Turning 25 - A Celebration: the exhibit goal is to have every AAW chapter represented and for each chapter to enter a lathe-turned work that exemplifies and represents that chapter. Click here to view the Turning 25 catalog.
• Instant Gallery is the largest display of turned-wood objects shown under one roof. It is an amazing showcase of interesting and varied work. If you are registered for the Symposium, you can bring three of your best pieces to add to the excitement. While there, vote for your favorite chapter-challenge project!
• Roots, is the Professional Outreach Program's exhibition. All the objects will be auctioned off to raise funds for POP activities and support programming at AAW symposiums. An exhibition catalog will be available for purchase.
• The Merit Award Exhibition will feature David Ellsworth. Ellsworth's work is innovative and shows his commitment to the craft. He continues to be a significant influence to artists, collectors, and to the field of woodturning.
• Empty Bowls, a Grassroots Movement to Help End Hunger, will be held in the Instant Gallery. Whether you bring a bowl to donate or buy a ticket to purchase another bowl, everyone benefits! Together we will raise money to donate to Second Harvest Heartland, a hunger relief organization. For each $50 donated, Second Harvest Heartland can distribute more than 180 meals to those in need. Submissions are still being accepted!
• Doing a Good Turn: A $25 Souvenir for the 25th, is an opportunity to make and purchase a souvenir of AAW's celebration symposium. Make a turned piece and sign it with your name and "AAW's 25th Anniversary". Donate your item and purchase a ticket to acquire someone else's prized object.
• Collectors of Wood Art will be holding their annual meeting in conjunction with our symposium. For more information about CWA click here.

Demonstrations

• Review the Symposium Planning Guide for a complete list of demonstrations and the latest grid.
• Three Professional Outreach Program sponsored Resident Artists will provide special demonstrations during the symposium: Barbara Dill, Robert Lyon and Derek Weidman.
• Apply HERE to demonstrate at the 2012 AAW Symposium in San Jose, CA. Deadline for submissions is October 15, 2011
  
  

 Trade Show and Vendor Information

• Click here for Vendor contact information
• Review the Symposium Planning Guide for a list of vendors scheduled to be at the Symposium.
• If you would like to have a vendor booth in the trade show area, contact our symposium coordinator.
• Contact the AAW St Paul office to arrange for your paid advertising to be placed in attendee's handout packages.

 Special Interest Night (SIN) - Friday, June 24 from 7:30 - 9:00pm

• This is an opportunity for groups and individuals to have panel discussions, meetings, and special presentations. The AAW will provide the rooms and digital projector.
• So far, the following groups have signed up for rooms: Collectors of Wood Art, Antique/Reproduction Lathes, Gizmos & Gadgets, Bowl Makers, Segmented Wood Turners, Pen Makers and Ornamental Turners.

 Spouse and Significant Other Information

• On Site Craft Room - this is a room where non- woodturners can enjoy their own crafts in the company of others, or explore new crafts. There will be demos and/or showings of a variety of crafts such as quilting, spinning, pottery and others. The room will be open during symposium hours. Please bring your in-progress or completed projects with you so we can enjoy them.
• Review the Symposium Planning Guide for a schedule of Craft demonstrations.
• Click on this link to read about and register for three different organized day tours of the St Paul area

 Symposium Schedule

• Review the Symposium Planning Guide for details about the Symposium schedule.

Accommodations & Lodging

• Hilton Garden Inn, 411 Minnesota Street, Saint Paul, 1-877-782-9444 (toll free). A block of rooms have been reserved for June 19 through 27, 2011 at the special $129 room rate, available until May 20th or until the block is sold-out. Click on this link to book a room.
• Holiday Inn, 175 W. 7th Street, Saint Paul, 651-225-1515. Room rate is $134 for a single or double reserved within the June 22-26 window. Click here to make a reservation online. If you are arriving sooner than 6/22 or leaving after 6/26, call Holiday Inn to make your reservation over the phone.
• Lebanon Hills Campground, about 12 miles from downtown St. Paul, with easy highway access via Interstate 35E.
  
• If you would like to reduce travel cost and share a room, get in touch with the Saint Paul office - they may be able to match you up with a roommate.
• On-site UPS service is available for those who would like to ship things to Saint Paul before the symposium, or ship that load of exotic wood home after the symposium. Click here to learn more.
• Country Inn, 6003 Hudson Rd, Woodbury, MN, (651) 702.2776. A block of rooms have been reserved for Wednesday, June 22 through Sunday, June 26, 2011 at the special $99 room rate, available until June 10th or until the block is sold-out. Click on this link to book a room.  Complimentary breakfast is served daily and there will be free roundtrip shuttle service to the RiverCentre.  To benefit from these special services, be sure to book you room under the American Association of Woodturners reservation.'

Transportation

• AAW will provide transporation between the hotels, the Gallery of Wood Art, and the RiverCentre. The big orange school bus will make a continuous loop for those who would prefer a ride. The furthest hotel is about 5 blocks from the RiverCentre, and the loop will run about every twenty minutes,

Great Things To Do - in and around St. Paul

• Take advantage of the discounted rates to see "Tutankhamen: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs," an international exhibition featuring:

The largest image of Tut ever unearthed - a 10-foot statue of the pharaoh found at the remains of the funerary temple of two of his high officials.

Golden sandals that covered the feet of Tut when his mummy was unwrapped soon after its discovery.

A gallery devoted to the golden treasures of the pharaohs of Egypt, including jewelry, vessels, weaponry, and the solid gold funerary mask of Psusennes I, which lay over the head, chest, and part of the shoulders of the mummy.

We have reserved three time slots for AAW members.

• Attend a Saint Paul Saints baseball game at the open air Midway Stadium, Friday, June 24, 7 p.m. This minor league team really knows how to put on a fun show, along with a great game! Round-trip shuttle service will be arranged from the Hilton Hotel to the game. Your ticket will include a picnic dinner.
• One-hour tours of historic Landmark Center - home of the AAW's main office, gallery and gift shop. Click on this link to learn more.
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts presents "Conversations with Wood: Selections from the Waterbury Collection", June 17 through September 4, 2011. Click on this link for more information.
• Visit Grand Avenue - about 2 miles distance from the symposium.
• Summit Avenue - take a tour of Summit Avenue in St. Paul to view historic homes including F. Scott Fitzgerald's.
• James J Hill House - builder of the Great Northern Railway.
• Visit the Minnesota History Center.
• Visit the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.
• Visit the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Paul.
• Click on this link to read about and register for three different organized day tours of the St Paul area

Maps of the area

• River Centre Parking map (pdf)
• Area Restaurants map (pdf)
  

Bulletin Board and Photo Wall

• A bulletin board is available to post messages. Also a photo wall - everyone is welcome to bring pictures of interesting or humorous lathes, jigs, tips, or turnings. Also, bring copies of your chapter newsletter to share.

2011 AAW Resource Directory

• For the 2011 AAW Resource Directory we went green and printed paper copies for members that renewed before December 31st and requested a paper copy. The 2011 AAW Resource Directory has started mailing and will start arriving in the next 10 days. The online membership directory is available to all members.

Highlights from last year's (2010) Symposium

• Click on this link to view the 2010 symposium photo gallery

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