Martin Goebel, an award-winning maker of custom, bench-made furniture, with work represented in public and private collections around the globe, will exhibit a selection of his designs at the 2026 Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington D.C.
The show unites 120 artisans, selected by a jury of museum curators, from nearly 2,000 applicants working at the highest level of contemporary American craft across a range of disciplines.
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“We had some great work this year and I thought I’d see if we could get involved–and we were selected,” says Goebel. “I was very happy to hear that.”
With approximately three months to prepare for the exhibit this spring, Goebel says he’ll dedicate time every day until then to prepare for the event. “In the grand scheme of show pieces, I don’t look at how long it’s going to take me; it’s how long do I have? We’ll try to use every minute to appropriately show off the skill set,” he says.
Melding technical difficulty with exotic materials, Goebel is aiming to show a total of five pieces, including a round table for 4 to 6 people in solid zebrawood, a play on steamer trunks, in addition to a few prototypes he’s been working on at his manufacturing facility in North St. Louis. The steamer trunk, says Goebel, will function like a wardrobe. “It’s one of those things that a lot of designers and artisans have really used, over the years, to show their skill set through attention to detail,” he says. The table, with a mother of pearl inlay, will feature brass accents and a sunburst veneer. The finish, a French polish in which ultra-fine layers are rubbed on and sanded away to almost nothing, leaves “beautiful depth and a buttery texture,” he says.
“It’s all of your best work on full display for people who know whether it’s being overstated or not,” says Goebel. “I assure you we’re going to pull out all the stops.”
Goebel and a few members of his team plan to drive with the show pieces to D.C. one week prior to the show. There’s just too much at stake, he says, to ship the works in a plywood crate. Until then, Goebel will continue to operate as a business owner, a designer with deadlines for existing clients, and the public face of his company.
“I’ve estimated about 300 to 350 hours that I need to carve out between now and April to complete the work,” he says. “I find it fairly ironic that now, in order to show at the Smithsonian, I essentially have to become a weekend warrior.”
