As folklorists and educators, we believe the qualitative experiences of individual students are at least as significant as the quantitative data. Working in classrooms with new immigrants, we often work with students who refuse to speak at school—they’re often called “selective mutes.” Arts education is a way to change those behaviors. In the arts, teaching artists like George [Zavala] use words and attach them to something the students are doing—when you say the word “red,” you paint with red. We often see kids start to speak very quickly.
Folk Arts Education
From the Director
In July 2012, the
New York Folklore
Society was asked to
help document the
second reunion of Camp Woodland
campers—a gathering
of people from
all over the US who
shared the childhood experience of once attending
a children’s camp which had existed
in Phoenicia, New York, from 1939–1962.
Indian Classical and Folklife Traditions in the Schenectady School District
On any week in the 2023-2024 academic year, one can encounter a New York Folklore-sponsored folk arts program within any of the nineteen schools which make up the Schenectady School District. Through grants from the Our Town program of the National Endowment for the...
YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Lake George Celebrates its Centennial
Established in 1913, YMCA Camp
Chingachgook is one of the oldest
children’s camps in America and is presently
celebrating 100 years of operation.
Over 350,000 children have participated
in Camp Chingachgook programs in the
last century….Today, Chingachgook serves over
10,000 children and adults annually in
year-round programs on Lake George in
the Adirondack Mountains.
NYFS News and Notes
On March 2, 2013, New York Folklore Society
hosted its annual conference at ArtsWestchester
in White Plains, NY. The theme centered
on occupational folklore. While the current
economic crisis has drawn much attention to
the need for strategic and sustainable economic
development, this conference was a great opportunity
to highlight folkloric aspects integral
to the economic machine in New York State.
A Pan African Youth Orchestra for New York’s Capital Region
A new musical venture for the Capital District has begun, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Schenectady County Initiative Program (CIP). This innovative musical project is the creation of a Pan-African Orchestra, modeled after a...
Artist Spotlight: Devesh Chandra
DEVESH CHANDRA has been learning the Tabla since the age of 3. He learned Indian Classical Music by accompanying his mother, renowned Sitar exponent Veena Chandra and he continues to perform with her. Their mother and son duo has received national and international...
Downstate
Urban Explorers is a youth development program by City Lore in New York City that uses the skills of documentation and fieldwork.
From the Waterfront
Students in Freeport, New York examine their waterfront community in 2015-16 after Superstorm Sandy had affected local maritime traditions.
Common Ground: Community-based Teaching, Learning, and Environmental Stewardship in Art Centers, Museums, and Places of Learning
This is the transcript from a panel discussion with Indigenous artists about community based teaching and learning that took place during the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society (AFS).
Music and Food in Multicultural Syracuse
Ethnomusicologist, Sydney Hutchinson, reports on a fieldwork based course at Syracuse University that engaged students with the city’s diverse tradition bearers.
Analysis and Intuition: Reflections on the Mystic Union of Measure and Abandon in the Art of Figure Drawing
An essay regarding the educational training of artists to engage students in both analytical and intuitive mental faculties.
Camp Woodland Memories Inspire A Poem
A description of Camp Woodland, and a song by Mickey VanDow.
Critical Thinking, Wisdom, and Paying Homage to the Human Experience
An essay about critical thinking.
Fishing partners: Remembering Cory Weyant
A remembrance about Cory Weyant, Long Island Bayman/fisherman who was a frequent speaker to school groups. A “View From the Waterfront” column of Nancy Solomon