Lee Weitzman

Lee Weitzman president and design director of Weitzman Furniture, discovered at an early age as a sculptor with and intense interest in working with wood. “I was determined to understand how to create provocative and beautiful objects of anything imaginable” he recalls. Truly understanding form and function as it relates to the beauty of an object requires a blend of artistic intuition and sensible craftsmanship.

Today, Weitzman works closely with his furniture makers, offering his problem solving and engineering knowledge, just a few talents pulled from his craftsman roots, which he shares while teaching furniture design and making at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  “I combine materials with shapes to create furniture that people will notice,contemplate, and take pleasure in using” says Weitzman.  His non-compromising approach to formal quality and visual appeal complements his desire to please clients through supportive communication in terms of drawings, finish samples, and project timetables.  It is the closeness to the entire process of creation that allows Lee to ensure the realization of his and his clients vision at its full potential.

Lee Weitzman has been designing and making furniture for over 35 years. He was born and raised in Detroit Michigan until he moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1973 to attend Western Michigan University, where he received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Arts from WMU in 1975. After extensive world traveling, he then moved to Chicago in 1979 to continue his studies at graduate school in Sculpture, at University of  Illinois, Chicago.  In 1984 he opened Lee Weitzman Furniture, blending his artistic and technical skills in the creation of original contemporary furniture.  He has maintained and grown his furniture design-build practice in Chicago and continues to this day creating original and beautiful furniture.