Spend the week beading a beautiful rope necklace and a bracelet using the traditional Native American peyote stitch. If time allows, students will also learn the brick stitch and incorporate it into a pair of earrings or a diamond-shaped pendant. No experience necessary; some familiarity with using seed beads and myuki delica seed beads, as well as experience with peyote and brick stitch, may be helpful. Note: materials fee may exceed $100.

Celebrate the fall season by exploring an intriguing form of paper art. Explore the many ways to use quilling in your artistic practice, and then apply your curiosity, enthusiasm, and imagination to projects of all levels. Design and create quilled cards, 3-D figures, ornaments, heirloom gifts, and more. Students must possess manual dexterity and the ability to work in small detail. All levels welcome.

Learn to bake bread using freshly milled whole grains and natural sourdough starters. Explore how to use grains such as spelt, einkorn, rye, and others to create delicious breads from a wide spectrum of baking traditions. Gain a firm foundation in bread baking principles and techniques, giving you the tools and confidence to make your own nutritious, whole grain sourdoughs at home. Note: materials fee may exceed $100.

Enjoy the complementary joys of art and nature. Spend the mornings walking around the gorgeous Folk School campus as we learn to identify and appreciate local trees. In the afternoons, return to the studio to sketch those trees and their features in pen and ink and enhance your sketches with watercolor. Students with prior drawing experience will get the most out of this class.

Use traditional techniques to complete an indoor mosaic, approximately 12- by 12-inches. Create a full-sized drawing of the mosaic (known as a cartoon), then hand-cut and apply mosaic tesserae (glass, ceramic, and more) in the direct method to enhance your design. Mix and apply grout and add finishing touches to turn your piece into a wall hanging or trivet. No experience required, but moderate hand strength is needed. Note: materials fee may exceed $100.

Gain a hands-on appreciation of the clawhammer style of banjo while playing with a North Carolina native and master of the craft. Learn up close and by ear, approaching rhythm, clear tone, and a set of great traditional melodies, note by note. Benefit from the explanation of tunes, listening sessions, and traditional techniques with cultural context. Bring a 5-string banjo; some previous familiarity with the instrument will further your experience in class.

Green wood from a freshly cut tree is an almost limitless source for woodturners. Learn everything you need to know about turning and re-turning green wood; discover the sources of wood for turning and the process of preparing a wood blank, and experience turning the blank into bowls. Beginners will learn lathe basics and best practices for tool sharpening. Experienced turners can explore and troubleshoot more advanced techniques. All levels welcome.

Paint, strip, and weave watercolor paper into amazing, colorful baskets. Working with wooden molds or by hand, students will create several baskets in a variety of sizes and shapes. Beginners will learn simple construction methods and weaving techniques; experienced basket weavers can benefit from exploring new approaches.

Join this exciting and colorful class and learn elements of hat design. Explore and choose yarn as you would colors on a painter’s palette and discuss how to use different fibers to achieve your design goals. We will examine tensioning techniques, choosing and combining stitches to create texture, and multiple ways to decrease the crown/top of the hat. Learn about stitches per inch and focus on how to make hats that fit. Basic knitting skills required.

Strengthen your connection to words and stories. Through movement, craft, and writing, actively honor your personal story while developing a relationship with the language you use to share it. Gentle movement and activities will help us get out of our heads and into our hearts as we write. In connecting with others who are courageously sharing themselves through their writing, we will deepen our ability to do the same. All levels welcome.

Combine welding, cutting, and forging techniques to create yard art with a flair. We’ll plant ideas for projects, from garden flowers to yard sculptures, small outdoor tables, or other items of a whimsical or functional nature. Pick your favorite and make it out of steel. Experiment with incorporating tool parts and other recycled steel. With hard work and humor, students of all levels can succeed.

If you are forge-curious, this is the year to try blacksmithing. Start with the essentials, from maintaining an efficient fire to designing projects. Make useful items for your home, or work on a special project of your own design. You will be hooked! All levels welcome.

Experienced mark makers—open your creative process to new conceptual possibilities. Referencing contemporary genres as points of entry, we will stretch, let go, and expand our visual literacy with new ideas. Work with traditional and non-traditional drawing mediums, including graphite chalks, charcoal, inks, crayons, and more. Get messy and have fun as we jump into new creative territory.

Spend the week creating original shadow puppet shows in collaborative teams! Explore ways to tell a good story using sound, light, and shadow to bring it to life. Discover construction techniques for detailed, articulated shadow puppets and unique ways of using lighting and naturally created sound effects. For those who wish, explore creating original songs to accompany our performance. All levels welcome.

Learn how to see, compose, and capture beautiful images using your digital camera. Photograph landscapes and natural elements in ways that set them apart from the usual snapshot. Learn elements of composition and qualities of light, along with some post-production techniques. Some field trips will require carrying gear over moderate terrain. For beginning to intermediate students capable of operating their digital camera in manual mode.

Fungi are fascinating! Come grow, forage, identify, cook, eat, craft, preserve, and learn about the many facets of fungi. Dig in with a mix of hunting, lectures, sampling, and hands-on making. Learn how we can interact with, benefit from, and work with mushrooms to help regenerate our soil, health, and planet. From low-tech mushroom cultivation basics to needle-felted fungi for clothing decoration, there’s no cap on the possibilities to explore.

Bring your stories to life in a unique hand-printed and hand-bound book. Explore the basics of letterpress printing and hand typesetting including type composition, press bed set-up, and printing on a variety of presses. Then, learn the basics of cutting rubber and linoleum blocks to complement the text. Bind your printed pages together in a beautiful book structure to share your story. All levels welcome.

Innovative metal clays contain pure metal powder mixed with an organic binder, allowing you to work them like clay. Mold it, sculpt it, roll it, texture it, and more—then fire your pieces to burn away the binder, leaving pure metal. Create a delightful scenic pendant in copper, silver, and bronze while learning all about clay handling, clay combinations, construction, firing, finishing, and assembly. All levels welcome. Note: materials fee may exceed $100.

Get ready for a week of Appalachian wonders! Learn freestyle flatfoot clogging and play-party dances, sing traditional songs, and play instruments—all to explore the cultural history and heritage of Appalachia. Instrument instruction will include mountain dulcimer, banjo, guitar, mandolin, limberjack, and more. We’ll also learn from other folk musicians and dancers through archival video clips, radio segments, and possible in-person visits. All levels welcome.