*Featured Photo by Kacey O' Brien.
The Adirondacks is commonly recognized for its abundant natural beauty, with more than six million acres of enchanted wilderness. Perhaps not as often realized, however, is the fact that the surrounding nature inspires much of the arts and crafts that can be found in the Lake George Area. A shining example of this can be discovered at the nearby Adirondack Folk School.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Adirondack Folk School, located southwest of Lake George in the Town of Lake Luzerne, where I was fortunate enough to experience one of their many educational crafts programs firsthand. Not only did I learn a fun and creative form of artistic expression, but I was also able to better understand the impact this organization has in our area.
While the location may stray a bit from the center of the tourist attractions and sights of the Lake George Village, I hope that by sharing a bit of my personal experience, I can encourage others – both locals and tourists alike – to visit the Adirondack Folk School for themselves and perhaps take a class or two.
Their Story
Located in the center of Lake Luzerne, the Adirondack Folk School is a non-profit organization, with their primary focus being on preserving and sharing the history and culture of the Adirondacks. To achieve this focus, a wide-ranging collection of artisans and instructors come to teach the arts, crafts, and traditions that have cemented themselves in the area for generations.
These classes, offered throughout the year, come in a diversity of subjects and interests, including:
- Chair and Furniture Building
- Paddle Making
- Fly-Tying
- Basket Weaving
- Organic Gardening
- Fiber Arts
- Ceramic Arts
- Blacksmithing
And students of all ages and skill levels are welcome to attend, making this a wonderful activity for the whole family. The courses themselves can range in length from half-day sessions to multi-week courses with multiple meetups.
Besides courses, the Adirondack Folk School also provides an assortment of demonstrations and events, featuring dedicated Adirondack storytellers and musicians, allowing you to immerse yourself in the creative spirits that embody the area.
History and Fun Facts
The Adirondack Folk School officially opened its doors in 2010, with support from the Town of Lake Luzerne, the Adirondack Museum of Blue Mountain Lake, and nearby college, SUNY Adirondack. Beforehand, this building saw many transitions over the years, from an ‘Odd Fellows’ lodge, an elementary school, and even the town hall.
Now, the historic school building houses classrooms for Fiber Arts, Basketry, Woodworking, Woodcarving, Quilting, Felting, and so much more. In fact, there’s even a second location – the Alfred Z. Solomon Weaving and Woodworking Studio (within the Lake George Outlets) - that hosts some of the larger classes, such as Canoe Building.
Their vision for accessible arts and crafts programs has allowed the folk school to grow tremendously. A curriculum that initially started out with 90 courses taught by 40 instructors serving nearly 300 students, has grown to more than 250 courses to choose from, complete with 60 instructors, and serving more than 1,000 students.*
*As of 2023, as stated on Adirondack Folk School’s website.
Observing and Exploring
When I first arrived at the Adirondack Folk School, I was greeted by a wonderfully charming exterior, combining a modern structure with the color scheme of a traditional log cabin, plus the wooden sign out front. I feel this perfectly portrays the school’s identity – keeping the culture and the traditions of the Adirondacks alive, but in a modern learning environment.
As I stepped inside, I was blown away by the décor of the interior, adorned with various Adirondack furniture and crafts that one can expect to make during a course. In particular, the entrance also features their gift shop, which proudly displays various items like handmade woven baskets, balsam pillows, birchbark picture frames, and more, including Adirondack Folk School-themed merch and apparel to take home.
Pictured: Examples of Pre-Made Crafts found at the Gift Shop.
Before my class began though, I had the opportunity to meet the Executive Director, Terri Cerveny, who was more than happy to give me a guided tour of their facilities. The upstairs area is where the main classroom is located, which is plenty spacious in size for both students and work materials, and can be adjusted to accommodate the various courses the school offers. There are also a few fridges available for public use, perfect for those courses that take longer throughout the day; a bathroom, and a kitchenette for a quick cup of coffee or two.
The downstairs area, meanwhile, features a workshop with various presses and tables, as well as a room with several workstations, which is used for the school’s many courses on woodcarving, woodturning, woodworking, and the like.
Pictured: A class gathered at the Downstairs Workshop.
Terri also made sure to mention the outdoor H.H.M. Pavilion (built using community funding), which houses an open-air wood-fired oven for Pizza Making, as well as a multipurpose space and kiln room for courses in Blacksmithing, Ceramics, Boatbuilding, and more. In fact, the pavilion is home to a nationally recognized blacksmithing program where students can learn from some of the finest experts in the industry.
All in all, I was extremely impressed with the different classrooms and learning spaces that make up the Adirondack Folk School. The staff and volunteers put a lot of care into growing their facilities over the years, which, as a result, has allowed them to expand their offerings today. The amount of resources and materials at their disposal provides an accommodating environment that is top-notch for students and families.
After the tour came the time for me to participate in an actual course, where I got the chance to sit down and create with some genuine hands-on learning.
Learning and Creating
The course I ended up taking was “Stained Glass for Beginners,” where each student creates their own small Tiffany-style suncatcher using various pieces of colored glass. Each of us had a choice of designs through patterned templates, or we could create our own (I ended up choosing a cute little sailboat, as I feel it represents the Lake George Area well).
As with most of the classes, the instructor for this course is a local professional artisan. In this case, our instructor, John Vaughn, has been doing glass art for several years, even selling and displaying his works at craft shows, as well as his own online shop on Etsy. I personally thought that John made for a terrific teacher. He was patient with everyone, ready and willing to step in and offer help, and explained each step in the process with both visual aids and demonstrations.
After sitting down and briefly interacting with the other students, varying in age and experience, John spent a few minutes introducing himself, as well as explaining the art process itself. Then we took our chosen designs to begin scoring and breaking the various pieces of glass, and there were a multitude of colors to choose from, so mixing and matching was certainly encouraged.
Pictured: Various Colors of Stained Glass; Photo Credit: Kacey O'Brien
To score and break the glass, after cutting outside our pattern pieces with a special pair of pattern shears, we were shown how to create general shapes outside our traced shapes using a combination of glass cutters and cutting foil, followed by actually breaking our glass using breaking pliers. We then made more detailed trims to get more accurate results using nippers. This was honestly the most difficult part of the whole process, but thankfully we had ample time to practice with example glass before moving on to our desired colors and shapes.
Pictured: Breaking the Stained Glass; Photo Credit: Kacey O'Brien
The next step was to smooth out the sharp edges and other remaining cuts of our pieces by grinding them out. Using electric grinders, this process was fairly straightforward, but hand protection was strongly advised. Once the grinding was complete, I had to make sure I cleaned off any remaining marker (from tracing) and grinder dust using a wet cloth.
Pictured: Grinding out the Rough Edges; Photo Credit: Kacey O'Brien
Once the pieces were dry, we cut and wrapped copper foil tape around each individual shape and smoothed out any bumps in the foil. This led us into the final part of the creating process – soldering.
After applying flux with a brush to spots where we wanted to connect our pieces, we used a soldering iron to meld the foil together, resulting in a silvery metallic trim around the design. This was a lengthy step, as the soldering took time and precision to succeed. Additionally, I had to solder the back and sides to make sure the pieces were solid, but it was certainly an enjoyable part to learn. Since there is a burn risk with the soldering iron, John ensured that everyone wore gloves.
The final task was to let our finished designs cool for a minute before heading to the sink and washing any excess flux off, and voila! In just four hours, we had successfully completed our very own stained glass suncatchers. My finished work may not be professional quality, but the fact that I – who has never done anything like this before – was able to accomplish a finished design in one mere morning fills me with a sense of pride. And that in itself made the experience absolutely worthwhile.
Pictured: "Think this Boat is Ready to Set Sail?"; Photo Credit: Kacey O'Brien
Closing Remarks
As I exited through the doors of the Adirondack Folk School, sailboat in hand, I was left with a great sense of awe and admiration for how exceptional of an organization they are.
Getting to tour and observe the facilities firsthand was a phenomenal experience. It’s clear to me through witnessing their setup, as well as talking with Terri, that the organization truly does wish to inspire authentic Adirondack creativity and learning, not only for those visiting but for the local communities as well. In fact, Terri - quite passionately – described the variety of events and programs she plans to promote going forward. It’s the people who visit and spread the word out that help the folk school grow after all, and they’re looking to encourage more people to visit.
As far as the classroom setting goes, as I was surrounded with welcome smiles and active curiosity, I can’t help but feel a strong desire to discover more. I enjoyed getting the chance to learn a new skill, to be guided through any questions or difficulties, and to have fun every step along the way. And I can tell the others in that room felt the same way. I was fully engaged with learning and crafting, which I’ll admit isn’t always easy to do, and now I want to take additional courses in the future. I can only imagine the others I met would like to as well.
I’m sincerely grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from the dedicated staff at the Adirondack Folk School and highly recommend their courses for anyone with an interest in arts and crafts, Adirondack culture, or if they’re simply looking for a fun and educational activity.
The Adirondacks, and the Lake George Area, are filled with unimaginable beauty in their surrounding nature, and the Adirondack Folk School draws on this idea as inspiration for everything they do. Simply put, for those wishing to experience true, authentic Adirondack culture, the folk school makes for a must-see on your visit.
Pictured: Standing Outside the Adirondack Folk School; Photo Credit: Kacey O'Brien
*Special thanks to the Adirondack Folk School for their time and services. Check out the Adirondack Folk School Listing for more information.
**To view the various courses at the Adirondack Folk School, make sure to out their Courses Page, or their Online Calendar.