Her love and appreciation of the art of woodworking began from watching construction workers.

Sabrina Mar was working as a television producer on a show called “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” when she became intrigued by the construction workers building things for the show.

Mar is an El Camino College student studying cabinet making and fine woodworking. She is one of many who has her woodwork on display in the El Camino Schauerman Library.

The work was on sale on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

Before deciding to study fine woodworking, Mar had worked alongside carpenters for years, having a history of working for Home and Garden Television shows and home improvement shows.

“I always thought that I could totally see myself doing this,” Mar said. “And so at first I started it off as a hobby and then I decided that I really liked it and I wanted to continue taking classes.”

Mar enrolled at El Camino College, where she initially took woodworking classes “off and on,” until she officially became part of the program in 2022 and decided to get a degree.

As a formal part of the woodworking class Mar took the opportunity to submit and display her work in the Schauerman Library woodworking exhibit.

Jack Selph, a fine woodworking and cabinet-making professor, has been in his field for 43 years and helped initiate the library collaboration for the woodworking exhibit.

Selph is Mar’s construction technology professor and the one who encouraged her to join the exhibit.

Selph said the idea of exhibiting students’ work at the library was presented because his students did not have a venue to showcase their work.

“It encourages them. [Displaying the work] gives them a sense of accomplishment,” Selph said. “They get pretty excited when they can put things in there.”

The library has displayed the woodworking exhibit annually, with the student showcase having a “long history” within the Library, according to Outreach Services Librarian Camila Jenkin.

Jenkin has been in her role for five years, helping coordinate and plan library events and exhibits, including “La Feria de las Flores,” a collaboration between the Art Gallery and the Schauerman Library.

The library lobby used to showcase art from the local community, however in the past few years ECC student and faculty work has been the focus of the displays.

Jenkin said the library is trying “to really showcase El Camino.”

“I think it’s important for us to have this kind of sense of pride,” Jenkin said. “We’re our own little community at El Camino, and you know we’re definitely part of the South Bay, but sometimes it’s nice to just showcase what we do alone.”

The woodworking exhibit is an opportunity for students to not only display their work but to profit off it, Selph said. Prices for the handmade pieces ranged from $5 to $350 with all profits going directly back to the students.

The exhibit is “very popular” among students, faculty and staff as they come in to do their holiday shopping and buy the woodwork as gifts.

Mar said she takes pride in displaying her work and sharing her skills with other students and the overall college community.

“Honestly, this program has been so great for me that I want everyone to know about it,” Mar said. “When you see other people’s work, it kind of shows you that those are great ideas of things I might be able to make or that I could make.”