Adirondack Folk School: Inspiring hands, heart and mind

“There’s more to the Adirondacks then the beauty of the mountains, streams and lakes; there are the people and the culture they developed.”  With this opening remark, Jim Mandle founder of the Adirondack Folk School began his presentation on Adirondack folk art and the mission of the Adirondack Folk School in Lake Luzerne.

The event took place on February 15 as part of SUNY Adirondack’s week-long “Teach-In” held at the community college’s Queensbury campus. Joining Mandle in the presentation was newly appointed executive director Christopher Shaw. Shaw, a Lake George native, is an Adirondack folk singer, songwriter, and storyteller. His work has been featured on PBS and in school classrooms through the Arts in Education program.

Mandle explained the three-fold aim of the folk school: to keep the arts and culture of the region alive, to provide a venue for artisans, and to provide continuing education opportunities for adults that have long completed their formal education – “Learn something new, just for fun.”

Chris Shaw believes it is important to pass on Adirondack culture to the younger generations. He relates his experiences going into local schools and seeing students dressed in low-slung baggy pants and reversed baseball caps, mimicking urban youth. “They do this because they don’t know their own heritage.”

The Adirondack Folk School began as a quest by Mandle to find use for the old Lake Luzerne Town Hall. “I’ve seen so many small towns with empty buildings.” He did not want Luzerne to join the ranks of dying communities. After a few attempts to attract business to the Main Street location, he came upon the folk school idea after a visit to a similar school in Minnesota.

With support from Adirondack Community College and The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, The Adirondack Folk School began offering classes in June of 2010.

Mandle said: “I coined the phrase 50 in 50, meaning we could find fifty artists within a fifty-mile radius. I have a marketing background and it was a jingle.” but he found he only needed to go 15 miles to find the variety of instructors he needed for the school’s initial class offerings.

The school’s 2012 course catalog lists a diverse selection of projects from basketry to blacksmithing: boat making to rug weaving. With the completion of a wood-fired oven last fall, the school added classes in wood-fired baking.

The Adirondack Folk School is a hands-on experience. Students create their own projects, no experience necessary. Classes vary in length, from a half day to make a walking stick, to full-week projects such as building a “Wee Lassie” Canoe. For someone not ready to build an entire boat, there is a one day class in building a canoe paddle.

A new addition for the 2012 year is Open Forge Night, to be held the second Wednesday of each month beginning in May. Blacksmith Al Cameron will fire up the forge and demonstrate his art and attendees will have the opportunity to try their own skill at bending heated metal.

During the last week of July, First week of August, the focus will be on music, storytelling and performance with a dozen concerts scheduled and classes in Adirondack Folk song traditions, fiddling and Clogging, and Adirondack style storytelling.

A full listing of classes and registration materials can be found on the Adirondack Folk School website.