Folk Art Guild 2023 Craft Weekend

The artisans at the Rochester Folk Art Guild are happy to announce that the Craft Weekend, a popular family event, is on again for August 10 through 13 this year.  Registration is now open for the craft classes and some of them are filling quickly. Accommodations are available for staying in one of the Guild rooms, or to camp in the Guild’s pastoral setting. Commuters are welcome and encouraged to stay for the evening meal. There is also a Work Study option, to support students with a reduced registration fee in exchange for helping out where assistance is needed. All of the registration information, workshop descriptions, and instructors, can be found on the website- http://www.folkartguild.org.
This event has become a highlight of the year for the 65 year old craft community, both for the students and the instructors.  There are 15 hours of studio time and the creative energy has ample time to flow. Thursday evening there is a welcome dinner, and a short session in each workshop to get acquainted. Friday and Saturday have two full days of instruction, with delicious home cooking for all three meals prepared by a professional chef. The weekend concludes Sunday after lunch with a fun and inspiring presentation from each craft area.
The exciting variety of classes this year includes the always favorite Guild crafts, Pottery, Weaving, and Woodturning.  New to the Craft Weekend this year are Organic Indigo Vats and Shibori, Cellphone Photography, Writing As A Reflective Practice, and Earth Camp for Youths. All of the Craft Weekend instructors are working artists, having had decades of learning and teaching experiences. Workshops fill up quickly so it is a good idea to register online soon to reserve your place.  Often several family members attend together to share the creative experience.
 Organic Indigo Vats and Shibori, taught by RIT School for American Craftsmen graduate Sara Burnet, is the first course to fill for the 2023 Craft Weekend, but there is a waiting list, and a potential for a second class later this year.
Cellphone Photography is perfect for those who would like a better understanding of the powerful technology available to them in their pockets, and compelling techniques that help to extend their individual awareness as well as their photographic image making potential. An IPhone or Android  phone is required. Instructor Jim Lemkin is a documentary filmmaker and holistic health practitioner who has taught at the university level with several institutions.
Locally-loved educators Curt and Nani Nehring-Bliss offer Writing As A Reflective Practice: Making Meaning and Minding the Mystery. They say, “In tending to a space that honors our writing as a practice, we join a long and rich history that spans both secular and sacred traditions connecting us to readers, writers, thinkers, artists, and dreamers from across the centuries. And when we engage in this practice together, we build meaningful relationships and nourish authentic community through deep listening, openness, and trust.” Both teach, or have taught at FLCC, and both were trained at Bard College’s Institute for Writing and Thinking, where Curt remains on the Institute’s Advisory Board. 
Edgar Brown is a NYS certified art teacher who has been teaching nature awareness and primitive technology skills to people for over 25 years. Earth Camp For Youths uses all of the Folk Art Guild’s fields, woods, streams, and ponds as their classroom, and is an opportunity for students ages 10 to 16 to discover and deepen their relationship with, and gratitude for, the natural world by learning new skills, engaging in new experiences, hearing new perspectives from indigenous and non-indigenous thinkers, intentional reflection, and creative play.
You can find more information about the 2023 Craft Weekend at the Rochester Folk Art Guild, and pictures from past workshops, at http://www.folkartguild.org/craftweekend. Further questions about accommodations, classes, and covid protocols can be directed to the Registrar, Marybeth Barnet by phone, (585) 314-6131 or by email: marybeth.barnet@gmail.com