Local Master Craftsman Richard Grell Featured In New Documentary

Special Screening to Be Held October 10 at HHS Auditorium

Richard Grell has been hand-crafting Windsor chairs on his Hudson property, using wood from his farm for more than 50 years. His museum-quality chairs are owned by institutions, businesses and individuals across the country, and have been purchased by famous actors, musicians and Fortune-500 CEOs and presidents.

Many of his finest pieces reside in museums and schools across the United States including the Ong Library and Wilson Hall on the Western Reserve Academy campus and the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C.  Sixty-five of his pieces were commissioned for the University of New England Alumni Hall in Portland, Maine.   

Richard Grell’s career is now the subject of The Master Craftsman, a documentary presented by Hudson Community Television and produced by local filmmaker and director, Phillip Sieb, along with HCTV producer Philip Leiter, a board member of Hudson Heritage Association, who served as the film’s director of photography. The film focuses on Richard Grell’s unique handcraft techniques emphasizing traditional tools and methods, and what it is that motivates him to undertake this challenging artistic and entrepreneurial endeavor. A special Hudson screening of the 32-minute documentary will be shown at Hudson High School auditorium on Sunday, October 10 at 2 p.m. followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and stars of the film. The screening is free and open to the public. Ample parking in the east lot is available and the theater is on the first floor.