Richard Rothbard first began making sculptured furniture and wood accessories in 1967 with a couple of creative woodworkers in a small Manhattan workshop. Later that year he opened Impressions of Wood on Lexington Avenue and 65th. One of the first craft galleries in NYC selling one-of-a-kind furniture and fine crafts.

In 1976, Richard & his new wife Joanna closed the gallery, moved to the country and began exhibiting Richard’s popular and quirky wooden boxes full-time at craft shows around the country. Boxology is still an important part of Richard’s life and can be found in his An American Craftsman galleries.

In 1980, on behalf of the hundreds of artists who were refused admission to exhibit in the exclusive Rhinebeck Craft Show, Richard started a new show across the street in a parking lot. It was a gutsy and disruptive move challenging the American Craft Council. It proved enormously successful and ran for thirteen years. It was the catalyst for the founding of American Art Marketing in 1982.