AAW Names Dean Center’s After Life Turning of the Week

The American Association of Woodturners forum’s Turning of the Week team selected Dean Center’s piece titled "After Life" as the highlight for the February 16, 2026 edition. The work combines cherry, oak, acrylic and cotton fabric and measures 21" x 1 3/4" x 10 3/4", with individual hearts measuring 3 3/4".

The official selection post praised the piece directly, stating, "My selection for turning of the week is Afterlife by @Dean Center. A story well told in words and wood. When I opened the forum intending to decide among a few pieces on my mental shortlist I saw Afterlife and chose it. Dean gives a short description of the conceptual journey and the talents that brought it to fruition. Well done." That language appeared in the Turning of the Week thread on the AAWforum, presenting the selection as both visual and narrative appreciation.

Dean Center’s AAWforum profile shows a long track record on the site: Joined May 4, 2010, with 3,036 messages and 2,579 likes, and a listed location of Bozeman, MT. The profile metrics underline the selection as coming from a well-established community contributor rather than a first-time poster.

The thread also contains the line, "Thank you, Al. And thank you to all of my faceless friends who Liked this submission, more because they care than for the skill involved." That response appears alongside a profile block for Gabriel Hoff, Joined Apr 30, 2022, in the same snippet of the discussion; the provided thread excerpts do not explicitly confirm the author of the line beyond what is displayed in the post view.

The Turning of the Week announcement ran amid a string of forum notices and community activity. The forum posted that, "The forum upgrades have been completed. These were moderate security fixes from our software vendor and it looks like everything is working well. If you see any problems please post in the Forum Technical Support forum or email us at forum_moderator (at) aawforum.org. Thank you" The site also carried the February 2026 Turning Challenge theme, "Cookie Jar," and congratulated Matt Carvalho for "Red Mallee Folded Form" being selected as Turning of the Week for February 9, 2026.

The AAWforum reminder about larger calendar items ran in the same page: AAW announced demonstrators for the 2026 International Woodturning Symposium, the 40th Anniversary Symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina, scheduled for June 4–7, 2026, with Early Bird pricing available until Feb. 28 and discounts for AAW chapter members. As the forum continues its weekly features and member challenges into spring, Dean Center’s "After Life" joins recent selections as a piece that prompted both technical admiration and a focus on storytelling in wood.