Mitch Tanis
Sylvie Rosenthal, owner of Lower Astronomy Studios.
Decades of experience: Rosenthal studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology and built houses across western North Carolina. She’s taught children for 24 years, and adults at renowned craft schools and universities for 14 years. ‘I love teaching,” she says. ‘It feels good to see people get empowered.’
Amid the plumbing stores, automotive shops and CrossFit gyms in an industrial area off of Fish Hatchery Road, you’ll find Lower Astronomy Studios, the woodworking studio Sylvie Rosenthal has maintained for more than nine years.
Rosenthal, a woodworker, sculptor, teacher and house builder, calls it “the manifestation of the inside of my head.” The space is filled with equipment, tools, materials, prototypes and fun projects.
Rosenthal started apprenticing in woodworking at a young age. “I worked three days a week from the time I was nine ‘til I was 17,” says Rosenthal, who is now 44. Her mentor was “handsy and mercurial” and she ultimately stopped speaking to him.
Rosenthal uses that experience to shape the type of place Lower Astronomy is. “I have queer, gender-nonconforming femme folks in this studio,” she says. She thinks critically about the environment she’s fostering. “What do we want to bring into the future from the past? I don’t want a place where my apprentices just sweep.”
Aside from her sculptures, Rosenthal designs and builds custom furniture, interior millwork and mirrors. “They’re common decorative objects, flat and easier to ship than tables. They can be transported nationally easily,” she says.
Well-made, custom furniture is a rarity these days, crowded out by the abundance of cheap, low quality Amazon fare. “It’s a pretty radical idea to buy quality furniture from the person who made it,” she says.
Rosenthal enjoys teaching, and you can tell by the boxes of kids projects tucked away in the shop. “I love to teach the basics — how to use a drill — some people are scared of it.”
Where does the name of her studio come from? Rosenthal thinks deeply about the “interconnectedness of all things. The different constellations, all the things the studio does... there are certain histories and stories hidden in materials.”
To learn more, visit lowerastronomystudios.com, or @lower.astronomy.studios on Instagram.
Tommy Washbush
An interior view of Lower Astronomy Studios.
Balancing act: Lower Astronomy is an independent studio, which is costly to keep operational. ‘Woodworking tools are expensive. I expanded in 2020 during COVID, and overhead was so high,’ Rosenthal says. She’s grateful to have this much space, but wishes she had some natural light and more power.
Sylvie Rosenthal
Caroline Branch uses a table saw at Lower Astronomy Studios.
A helping hand: Caroline Branch, one of Rosenthal’s apprentices, uses a table saw and custom jig to cut pieces of cherry wood to create mirror frames. Lower Astronomy pays employees a living wage, and Rosenthal trains and guides them through all the different steps of woodworking. ‘There is also a lot of sanding.’
Jim Escalante
'Bear Cabinet' and 'Stack Teapots' by Sylvie Rosenthal.
A celebrated sculptor: Rosenthal is a nationally known sculptural artist, with such pieces as the 7-foot-tall ‘Bear Cabinet (a natural history),’ left, created with mahogany, pine and a stuffed bear. Rosenthal also creates smaller, more detailed pieces, such as her whimsical ‘Stacked Teapot’ series, below, incorporating poplar, basswood, paint and colored pencil.
