Category: Folk School Stories

Donate Today: Together, We Make a Great Folk School

Ron Bohrer and Larry Castleberry found the Folk School in 2011 when they attended our big Fall Festival with other members of their local museum in Tennessee. After seeing our class catalog, Ron says, “We had traveled the world and we thought, ‘We’ve been everywhere we want to go, let’s go there.’”

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Keep the Folk School Healthy This Autumn

Maritza Maxwell embraces vulnerability. If you’ve been to the Folk School, you know we provide a supportive place to explore your creativity and connect with others. Maritza says, “Creativity breeds vulnerability and to share that with others is really meaningful. Every single time I’ve been to the Folk School I’ve come away with long-lasting friendships.

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Keep the Folk School Healthy

“He told me the Folk School was the ‘Real Deal’.” Sally Payne has been coming to the Folk School since 2011, just after the grandson of Fred O. Scroggs—a Brasstown merchant who rallied residents and lobbied Olive and Marguerite to choose our hamlet as the school site in 1925—said these words to her. Justin Scroggs is a long-time colleague and friend of Sally…

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With Your Help, the Folk School Will Persevere!

Ann Crenshaw has been coming to the Folk School since 2004. “I miss it. The first thing I do when I get to the Folk School is go into the Community Room in Keith House and take a deep breath. It smells like excitement and home and memories.”

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Folk School Stories: Jo Haas

“Magical.” That’s how Jo Haas describes the first time she visited our beloved Folk School. Five years ago, Jo was looking for an immersive experience that would really help her unplug from her busy life as CEO of the non-profit Kentucky Science Center.

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Folk School Stories: Luz and John Frye

Luz and John think it’s important to financially support our non-profit school that provides such value to them, so they include the Folk School in both their annual giving and estate plans. “This is a significant place that’s different than most of the rest of the world, so we want to support it,” John said. “If we don’t support it as individuals, then we can’t encourage other people and grantors to support it.”  

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Folk School Stories: Karen and Paul Rusello

Whatever your abode, castle or cottage, you most likely have a broom in your home or hanging on your hearth. From besoms and cobweb brooms to more modern flat brooms and whimsical sculptural objects, brooms are important cultural symbols used for decoration and ritual, as well as functional tools. At the Folk School, we have both week-long and weekend classes for you to explore the rich heritage of broom making with renowned artisans.

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Folk School Stories: Tommye Scanlin

Having grown up just 12 miles down the road from Brasstown, many of Tommye Scanlin’s earliest Folk School memories date back to her youth. In the mid-1960s, she and her boyfriend would often catch a glimpse of campus on their way to the drive-in movie theater in Peachtree. Since those drive-in, drive by days, Tommye’s Folk School story has come full circle…

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Folk School Stories: Janet Davis

When Janet Davis recently volunteered for Weavers’ Work Week, it was just her second visit to campus since her beloved husband, Jim, passed away in November 2017.

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Flourishing at the Folk School: Corie Pressley

Corie Pressley has lived in tiny Brasstown, North Carolina, all her 21 young years. She commuted to college for two years but this scenic Appalachian community is where she’s grown up, developed, and matured. You might think her life experiences have been limited in this small town. But that’s where you’d be wrong.

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Our new website is live and this blog has moved to folkschool.org/stories

Please visit and bookmark the News & Stories page as all new content will appear over there and blog.folkschool.org will soon head to the archives. We’ll continue to bring you tales about the Folk School experience from the perspective of teachers and students, along with the latest news from our staff and Resident Artists. We’re in the process of transferring our blog archive over to the new website, but there are plenty of interviews and anecdotes to dive into today.

Current Catalog

Embrace your creative potential, and join us for a life-changing Folk School experience. Our new January–December 2022 Catalog is now available. View the eCatalog online. To receive a printed catalog in the mail, complete our Request a Catalog form on our website.

Online Craft Shop

Our online Craft Shop is now live! Support our vision, mission, and values by purchasing handcrafted items. Our online selection of items will continue to grow, so check back regularly for new items, interviews and more.

Class Subjects

Our new website is live and this blog has moved to folkschool.org/stories

Please visit and bookmark the News & Stories page as all new content will appear over there and blog.folkschool.org will soon head to the archives. We’ll continue to bring you tales about the Folk School experience from the perspective of teachers and students, along with the latest news from our staff and Resident Artists. We’re in the process of transferring our blog archive over to the new website, but there are plenty of interviews and anecdotes to dive into today.

Current Catalog

Embrace your creative potential, and join us for a life-changing Folk School experience. Our new January–December 2022 Catalog is now available. View the eCatalog online. To receive a printed catalog in the mail, complete our Request a Catalog form on our website.

Online Craft Shop

Our online Craft Shop is now live! Support our vision, mission, and values by purchasing handcrafted items. Our online selection of items will continue to grow, so check back regularly for new items, interviews and more.