Alabama Folk School grows with arts grant

Instructor Sarah Bell of Birmingham (center) and two students weaving mimosa bark baskets during the April session of Alabama Folk School at Camp McDowell.

CAMP MCDOWELL - Camp McDowell has been awarded a $38,900 Creative Spaces Facility Enhancement grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts to improve its Alabama Folk School's art studios.

The Alabama Folk School was established in 2007 "to enrich lives and reconnect people to music, art and each other" and "preserve Alabama's cultural heritage" while providing "the opportunity for people to work creatively with their hands, minds and spirits in a welcoming environment that is both invigorating and restorative," according to Camp McDowell literature.

Patty Emmons of Colorado in a Gee’s Bend quilting session at AFS. Fabric arts is one of the craft areas that will benefit from the grant. — Patty Emmons of Colorado in a Gee’s Bend quilting session at AFS on April 11. Fabric arts is one of the craft areas that will benefit from the grant.

The Alabama Folk School holds six sessions a year, workshops that run from one day to four, with instruction times ranging from 12-21 hours, and people come from all over the country to attend. At the April Bluegrass and Gee's Bend session, there were students from nearby communities but also Colorado, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, Kansas and Texas, among other places. Attendees can commute or stay at Camp McDowell in hotel-style lodges or dorm-style cabins.

"Gee's Bend" refers to the renowned Gee's Bend Quilt Collective, which sends instructors to the Alabama Folk School twice a year.

Uses of grant

The folk school will use the grant money it has received to enhance four of its craft areas in three phases. Phase one will see enhancements to the blacksmith shop, including the purchase of three more anvils for a total of four, a second forge and a new set of tools, including hammer, chisel and tongs, all of which will help increase the number of students who can attend smithing classes at one time.

Sculptural forged heads were the smithing project on April 11.

Right now instructor Quinn McKay must bring his own anvil and tools with him when he comes from Birmingham to teach the class. He said the new tool set will also allow instructors who can't bring their own tools to teach the class.

"We can have a more diverse slew of educators in here, which should be amazing," McKay said. "I think it's really going to be a big improvement to the space."

He said new purchases might include post vices, a necessity for many types of smithing but one Camp McDowell currently doesn't have.

"We're going to build some work benches," he continued. "We're looking at getting a drill press as well."

He said, "One other fun thing we're thinking about doing--I'm going to readjust my budget and see if we can fit it in there--if we can get a cold forge set up in here with a chimney (going) out the roof, that would open the door for forge welding. We'd be able to do Damascus stuff, like anything you've seen on 'Forged in Fire.'"

Right now, his classes use propane forges.

Sam Caudell of Tiger, Ga., and Ray Spalding of Crane Hill work on a smithing project at an April 11 Alabama Folk School session.

McKay added, "There's not anywhere (else nearby) that does these big weekend workshops. (The Alabama Folk School) is really special."

Phase two will focus on the ceramics studio, increasing the number of pottery wheels from three to six and adding new tools, including an extruder and a wedging table, and studio-grade work tables and stools.

Phase three will focus on the areas of fiber arts and painting.

Cheryl Arnold of Northport and Willow Cohn of Austin, Tx., dyeing fabric with natural dye.

"We'll be buying a fleet of sewing machines," said Caitlin Lollar, director of the Alabama Folk School, who wrote the grant application along with Mary Yancey, the Camp McDowell grants administrator.

Other enhancements will include cabinetry for storage and movable gallery walls for art shows, which can also be used as classroom dividers, Lollar noted.

Invitation to the community

"One of the things that we would really love to see is more local buy-in, (more local) people coming," Lollar said, adding she'd like the community in the surrounding areas to know about and be able to take pride in the Alabama Folk School.

There are special rates for local people who would like to attend a folk school session and do not need room and board. There are also need-based scholarships available for all ages. Those interested in applying for a scholarship should send an email to afsregistrar@campmcdowell.org.

The public is also welcome to attend the concerts held at the school's three annual weekend sessions that include music instruction. The next of those is Old-Time and Gee's Bend from Oct. 9-12. (The commuter fee for this session is $80 and some meals are included.) The free concert will be Saturday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. Call Camp McDowell at (205) 387-1806 for more information.

"The instructors who are here teaching the music workshops perform as a band," Lollar explained.

Next year's From Scratch session, which is geared toward learning a new instrument or craft, such as quilting, ceramics, salve making or smithing, as a true beginner, will also include a concert open to the public when it it held in February, as will the next Bluegrass and Gee's Bend session, which includes instruction in such crafts as quilting, basket weaving, dyeing with natural dyes and foraged first aid, in April or May of 2026.

Alabama Folk School Director Caitlin Lollar, Camp McDowell Grants Administrator Mary Yancy and AFS Registrar Jordan Hughes. — Alabama Folk School Director Caitlin Lollar, Camp McDowell Grants Administrator Mary Yancy and AFS Registrar Jordan Hughes during a quilting class at AFS on April 11.

Upcoming opportunities for all ages

The Alabama Folk School also holds Youth Folk Camp every summer. This is a live-in summer camp experience for 5th-12th graders, so there is no commuter rate. This year's Youth Folk Camp will be July 25-28 and will include music classes for banjo, mandolin, guitar or fiddle, farming classes and art classes in various media. The cost is $425, but scholarships are available. Registration is now open.

The one-day September Sampler session on Sept. 6 will offer a chance to have a taste of what the folk school offers for only $100-150. Participants can learn to make heirloom pies or their own tea blends, forge a spoon in the blacksmith shop, get an introduction to ceramics or learn visible mending techniques. Lunch and supplies are included. Registration opens in June.

Cheryl Arnold, of Northport, Ala., with her mother, Peg Arnold, 92, of Kansas, came to the Alabama Folk School "to learn something new together," Cheryl said.

Visit www.campmcdowell.org to learn more details or to register for an Alabama Folk School session as well as to find information about Camp McDowell's Environmental Center, its teacher continuing education workshops and its Summer Camps on Clear Creek for various age groups in 1st-12th grade, which are coming up at various times in May, June and July.