Signs and Structures at the Holden Arboretum Working Woods Learning Forest

Late Summer & Early Autumn 2025

This project was guided by the desire of the team at the Working Woods Hub to utilize both locally sourced materials and local artisan/craftspeople in the effort to create interpretive and trail wayfinding signage for their unique demonstration forest located within the Holden Arboretum, near Kirtland, Ohio. It included integrating primarily black locust timber and a bit of cherry that was selected and harvested directly from the Holden Arboretum, and less than a quarter mile from where the structures and signage would eventually be installed at the Working Woods Learning Forest.

Following the harvest by a local tree company, the logs were transported from the arboretum to my shop, a distance of about 13 miles, where I then milled them into the timber and lumber needed to build 5 interpretive sign panel structures, 2 trailhead kiosks, and 19 trail wayfinding posts, 6 of which would bear custom hand-carved signs. The 7 timber structures are traditionally joined timber-frameworks. The 2 trailhead kiosks also have the Holden logo, hand-carved into the cherry header. All the carving on the kiosks and wooden plank signage was done by-hand, in-shop, with chisels and knife and in a font approved by the arboretum.

The interpretive and trail signage mounted in the kiosks, on the interpretive structues was produced by a sign company in Columbus, Ohio. The installation of the fully-assembled structures and posts on-site at the Working Woods Learning Forest was completed by a local contractor.