Nantucket Woodcarving


	History Carving New Contact

William Rowe, better known as Billy,

grew up along the shore of the Cape Cod Bay, in the town of Scituate, Massachusetts. At twelve years old, he learned to carve alongside his father, a renowned puppeteer and talented craftsman. At sixteen, Billy won The Ward Foundation World Carving Championship, a prestigious honor.

In 1992, on the island of Nantucket,

Billy established Nantucket Woodcarving in a community that embraces entrepreneurs and old world craftsmanship. Billy proved that "if it can be drawn, it can be carved." He created an award-winning team designing, carving and installing thousands of custom pieces including quarterboards, commercial signs, mantels, cornices, whaling scenes and Renaissance-inspired decorative carvings. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, New York Daily News, Home Magazine, Nantucket Magazine, The Nantucket Inquirer Mirror, Cape Cod Times, The Pittsburgh Tribune and in a national ad campaign for Ocean Spray. Billy and his artisans have been regarded as some of the finest ornamental and nautical woodcarvers in the world.

More recently, Billy has

brought his carving on the road, throughout the country. All over New England, venturing westward, featured artist at the Isle of Man Reserve Gallery in Chicago and working in his studio in Minneapolis.