STEVE BUTLER

A humble approach to woodworking education

- Ken Burton

A recent commercial names several famous companies that started in a garage, wisely concluding, “You never know what kind of greatness can come out of an American garage.” Enter Steve Butler, the host of The Garage with Steve Butler, a televised woodworking show that’s starting to garner attention. Steve lives in Massachusetts with his modest shop housed in—you got it—a garage.

The show features a quirky mix of woodworking, music, and maker ethos. It has slowly built an international audience on cable-access TV. But recently, with sponsor support, Steve hired a professional crew and jumped to public television where the show now broadcasts to over 250 stations.

Steve trained at Sheridan College in Ontario and has what it takes to make woodworking accessible to anyone with an interest. The show centers on modest but thoughtfully designed projects within reach of most amateur woodworkers. And interspersed with the how-to information are philosophical nuggets on “making” as a creative outlet, revealing Steve as a maker, artist, and teacher.