Chase ANkeny

Founder, Lead desiger, Master Crafsman

Chase comes from a hundred year long line of carpenters in New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley, and after a youth misspent studying philosophy (BA from the University of New Mexico) and wandering in the wilderness (walking the eternity of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail) he decided to try something practical and began learning to build furniture.

Chase began his career at the Krenov School focused on traditional woodworking using hand-cut joinery to create furniture designed to survive several hundred years. Making beautiful objects is great, but he wanted something more - he wanted to understand what it means to make something meaningful - so he went to the Cranbrook Academy of Art where he received his MFA.

He founded Arid with a as a way to tangle these traditions together, parring a daring design sensibility with a deep love for how things are built to create objects full of verve, brimming with life, that bring delight into the world.

His work spans art, design and craft with a focus on creating objects and environments that are not only useful but also profoundly meaningful - whether that be a conceptual piece trying to re-understand our built environment or a very practical set of kitchen cabinets.