Roy McMakin works on architectural, art, and furniture commissions. He began his career as a visual artist, earning his BA and MFA degrees from UC San Diego and making work that engaged issues of domesticity, memory, and the conventions of furniture construction. Interested in the concept of making similar objects as true furniture, McMakin founded Domestic Furniture Co. in 1987. He opened a showroom in Los Angeles and developed a line of furniture for the home. He simultaneously took on custom furniture commissions, which eventually led to projects encompassing the transformation of entire interiors. In 1993 he moved to Seattle with the goal of establishing a furniture production workshop that could take advantage of highly skilled local woodworkers and high-quality local hardwoods. In 1995 he started Big Leaf Manufacturing, the workshop that continues to build all McMakin furniture and sculpture, and in 1996 he founded the interior design firm Domestic Architecture. He is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery in New York.

The Design and Craft Lecture Series is funded by the Wornick Endowment Fund.

Generous support for CCA public programs in San Francisco has been provided by Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.