About the Program
The New York Folk Arts Education Network is a joint project of New York Folklore and Local Learning, and managed by Local Learning’s Network Coordinator, Mira Johnson (mira@locallearningnetwork.org ). Since 2018, Local Learning’s ongoing Culture, Community, and the Classroom program brings New York educators and folk artists together for active, engaging professional development that incorporates diverse cultural arts and community traditions with New York State Learning Standards. The resulting network of artists and educators receives ongoing support through New York Folklore’s technical assistance and professional development initiatives
Explore Our Published Curricula
The New York Folk Arts Education Network is a joint project of New York Folklore and Local Learning, and managed by Local Learning’s Network Coordinator, Mira Johnson (mira@locallearningnetwork.org ). Since 2018, Local Learning’s ongoing Culture, Community, and the Classroom program brings New York educators and folk artists together for active, engaging professional development that incorporates diverse cultural arts and community traditions with New York State Learning Standards. The resulting Curricula are available through New York Folklore and through the website of the Local Learning Network.
Visit the Teaching Artist Pages of this website to view curricula developed for New York Folklore’s featured artists.
Photo by John McKeeby
Along The River: An Indigenous Place-names Project
“Along the River” is a place-marking project to connect residents and visitors to New York’s waterways and watersheds through place names and Indigenous cultural heritage in a manner that is replicable across New York State. Using the lens of collected narratives and Indigenous community histories, “Along the River” provides alternative cultural and social histories of New York State, providing a more equitable lens through which to portray significant Indigenous sites within the watersheds of New York. One outcome of the project are curricula sets developed to explore “place” from multiple perspectives.
Indigenous Place Names Curricula Packet
A complete Curricula set (2026) developed in partnership with Local Learning; Bill Crouse artist and independent researcher and Rachel Wolfe (Salamanca High School); and the environmental education non-profit organization, Schoharie River Center. New York Folklore has collaborated with multiple partners to create curricula to align with the Indigenous Place Names Project, a project that has been ongoing since 2023. Click the hyper link to find a comprehensive curricula for k-12 educators for students to explore “place” from multiple perspectives.
Click here for direct links to Rachel Wolfe’s curricula on Indigenous languages, with audio and video examples: Community Place Markers in the Seneca Language by Rachel Wolfe
The completed place-based markers provide access to web-based media to provide additional information to the story or narrative being depicted. All of the marked “places” will be eventually linked through webpages that will serve as a “story map” of significant sites within New York’s Watersheds.
A related Curricula, developed by Rachel Wolfe for the project Teaching with Primary Sources can be found here:
Seneca Social Dances and Song (Yöëdza’ge:kha’ Ha’degaënogeh)
Folk Arts in Education Residencies Available
Folk Arts in Education Residencies
New York Folklore announces a residency opportunity for K-12 educational institutions to host traditional artists and/or tradition bearers at their institution. Limited funds are available to support a two or three-day residency with tradition bearers and traditional artists in New York State public schools. Awards of up to $1750.00 will support a residency artist for up to three days. In addition to honoraria for artists, funds support planning time and the writing of a residency-specific lesson plan/curriculum by the participating teacher. Up to 10 awards will be made
for this opportunity in 2026 for the spring semester of the 2025-2026 school year, or the fall semester of the 2026-2027 school year. This opportunity is provided through support from a “Regrants and Services Grant” of the New York State Council on the Arts. Funds must be used solely for honoraria. Travel and supply costs must be borne by the applicants
Deadline: Available until 10 awards are made