The 2025 Donald Gray Grant with Master Carpenter Miguel Ángel Tapia has been awarded. These grants are organized annually by the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation as part of the Building Arts Awards.
Guillermo Bornstein Ortega, the candidate selected to receive the 2025 Donald Gray Grant, began working with wood in 2014 through a carving course. Since then, he has maintained his connection with the material through personal projects, before undertaking formal training in carpentry and joinery at the Regional Crafts Centre of Castilla y León (CEARCAL). There, during six months of training (2024–2025), he strengthened his technical skills and applied his knowledge to larger projects.
At present, Guillermo works in a small carpentry workshop in his hometown of Cuevas del Valle, where he takes on modest commissions suited to the tools available, while aiming to gradually expand the workshop’s technical and productive capacity. His professional goal is to establish himself fully in the trade, and the grant represents a decisive opportunity to further his training under the guidance of Master Carpenter Miguel Ángel Tapia.
Miguel Ángel Tapia has received this year’s Building Arts Award in the category of Carpentry. He specializes in wood carving and Castilian religious imagery. From his workshop in Valladolid, Aquí se hacen Santos (“Here Saints Are Made”), he produces processional imagery, architectural elements, ornamental sculptures, and artistic furniture.
