Folk Arts

Ahmad Shah Wali

Ahmad Shah Wali

Meet Ahmad Shah Wali  Flying a kite is one of the most exhilarating experiences a child or an adult can have. A sense of pride, joy, and accomplishment washes over them as their eyes watch this object that they built fly into the sky. Flying kites helps family...

Mexican Mask Making at the Kids Arts Festival

Mexican Mask Making at the Kids Arts Festival

New York Folklore is pleased to partner again with the Kids Arts Festival, a program of Schenectady's Downtown Arts and Entertainment District. This year, New York Folklore is sponsoring artists, Mateo Cano and Maria Puente Flores, who will be working with kids to...

Artist Spotlight: Helen Condon

Artist Spotlight: Helen Condon

Helen Condon learned the art of rag rug braiding over fifty years ago from her grandmother, Sarah Campbell Taylor, who taught her how to make braided rugs using discarded, wool clothing. Using the skills in braiding and matching colors learned at thirteen years old,...

Artist Spotlight: Noah Khoury

Artist Spotlight: Noah Khoury

Noah Khoury is  a second generation blacksmith, as his father was a blacksmith and a welder.  In his teenage years, he worked alongside his father,  teaching middle-school aged youth at a summer workshop program in Altamont, NY called the Helderberg Workshops.  After...

Artist Spotlight: Zhong-Hua Lu

Artist Spotlight: Zhong-Hua Lu

Zhong-hua Lu, who was born in 1958, learned Chinese brush painting from his father and five uncles in Shandong Province, China, beginning at age five.  Currently, he has taught traditional Chinese Arts, including Tai Chi and Chinese brush painting, at Mass MOCA,...

Capital Region Artists Receive Community Grants

Capital Region Artists Receive Community Grants

Congratulations to New York Folklore-supported artists who received a Statewide Community Regrant (SCR). These grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, are distributed by community arts partners. In the Capital Region, we are happy to work with the Arts...

Common Ground: Folk Arts, Cultural Heritage, and Equity

Common Ground: Folk Arts, Cultural Heritage, and Equity

Photo:  Aziz Peerzada and his 11-year old son Saboor perform a beautiful set of Punjabi folk songs at the 2016 Brooklyn Arts Council Festival.   On November 23, 2020,  I attended a virtual Zoom hearing on the decision by the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) to cancel...

Egyptian Saidi Dance

In this guest blogpost, Dancer and linguist, Torkom Moysesiyan provides a glimpse into the ancient Egyptian dance of Saidi.  Saidi originates in Upper Egypt and is danced by both women and men. "Saidi dates back to ancient Egypt. It is an Egyptian folkloric dance that...

New Yorkers Honor the Dead through Día de los Muertos

New Yorkers Honor the Dead through Día de los Muertos

The Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration that spans centuries.  In its trajectory through the ages, the celebration has received influences from indigenous peoples, Catholicism, regional differences, and the creativity of those...

May 2020: 20 Folk Artists/20 Days

May 2020: 20 Folk Artists/20 Days

On May 1, 2020, New York Folklore and folklore programs across New York State will launch a collaboration to present traditional arts and culture from throughout New York State. Each weekday in May, from 4:00 -4:30 p.m., traditional arts activities will be presented...