i^n,iv w iiciiiia n as
T V ’s
N ic k O fferm an
stays
in craft.
H e thinks y o u
should, too.
Ron Swanson, the
complicated, staunchly
libertarian head of the
parks department on
Parks and Recreation.
A cto r’s W orkshop
s t o r y b y
Joy ce L o v ela ce
p h o t o g r a p h y b y
D ouglas K ir k la n d
R O N S W A N S O N , T H E C U L T H E R O
of NBC’s offbeat comedy series
Parks and Recreation,
is one of
the most weirdly compelling
characters on prime-time TV:
a deadpan, mustachioed munic-
ipal bureaucrat in fictional Paw-
nee, Indiana, who’s a govern-
ment-hating libertarian, a lover
of guns and bacon, and (lest
anyone mistake him for a crude
caricature) a man of fierce per-
sonal integrity, with a sensitive,
artistic side. Ron is also an avid
woodworker, so awesomely
masterful that he can craft an
exquisite harp from scratch in
a single night after downing six
glasses of whiskey.
In one legendary episode,
a city planner visits Ron at his
beloved workshop, where he’s
in his element, crafting a canoe.
This is Ron’s domain, where
“arbitrary” safety regulations
don’t apply: There’s a wood-
burning stove next to an oxygen
tank, a rat’s nest of wires, and
dozens of other violations of
city code. The official, who is
also Ron’s co-worker, orders
him to fix it, and even pitches
in to help. Ron grudgingly gives
in, qualifying it as “bringing my
workshop up to the Swanson
code,” which just so happens
to correspond with city code.
Later, the official finds a gleam-
ing finished canoe on his desk,
a gift bow on top. Ron, a man
of few words, won’t say “thank
you,” but he will give you the
greatest present he can think of:
something he made by hand.
Cut to real life. Ron Swan-
son’s alter ego, actor Nick
Offerman is giving a tour of his
woodshop in Los Angeles, talk-
ing about the joy and meaning
of making things. Yes, Offer-
man is actually a woodworker,
with a successful side business
crafting handsome custom fur-
niture, canoes, and soon, acous-
tic guitars, which he likes to
play. For the record, he always
works sober, and the Offerman
Woodshop is well-appointed
and violation-free. It doubles as
Ron’s shop on the show. (The
prop department dangered it up
for the cameras.)
“It’s really a dreamy man-
cave,” Offerman, 41, says of the
3,200-square-foot former photo
studio he converted a little more
than a decade ago. One room
houses magnificent slabs of sal-
vaged walnut and redwood he’s
collected over the years from
sources in northern California.
The famous Swanson canoe,
dec/jani2 american craft 049
