Hopework-l Mailing List: Re: The Clearing Folk School

[nps (nps]

I'm a "member" of this school but have still not been able to clear my calendar 
to get to a "class". It sounds as if The Clearing is most similar in the Folk 
School realm to the John C. Campbell Folk School (North Carolina).  . But, like 
that school, (where I worked in the early 70s), the "residential" aspect of the 
experience is more as guests than as full participants in daily life. For the 
true participation and community building, the one week family camps at Danebod 
in Tyler seem to be more on the mark than these schools that offer workshops 
(mainly for wealthy people)--especially since the workshops are also only a 
week long. Some of my friends have had a great experience at North House, but 
of course there is not residential element there. I have yet to find a North 
American Folk school that blends a longer residential experience, with 
community involvement in things like cooking and campus upkeep, and learning 
through dialogue all into one package. There IS also another Folk School in 
central WI (wonder if its name is something like "Pinetree" and there's one 
that I believe is in Maine. I've been unable to learn more about either. If 
anyone knows of a school that blends the Hopework vision with a residential 
experience, while also involving some "hands on" learning, I'd love to learn 
about it.
Nancy Sather

>Today I learned of a folk school on the other side of Wisconsin
>of the arts and crafts variety.
>
>Some excerpts from their website (about page) :  http://theclearing.org
>
>The Clearing Folk School provides diverse educational
>experiences in the folk school tradition, in a setting of quiet forests,
>meadows and water. The Clearing is a place where adults who share an
>interest in nature, arts or humanities can learn, reflect and wonder.
>
>Ellison Bluff Located near the tip of Wisconsin's Door Peninsula
>[which projects north northeast into Lake Michigan from Green Bay]
>.... historic stone and log buildings and hiking
>trails that wind through the property's 130 acres of forest and meadow -
>
>According to Jens Jensen, "Instruction at The Clearing is
>non-competitive - there are no credits, no grades, no degrees, no
>pitting of one student against another." This method of teaching is what
>the Danes called "The Living Word." Discussion, conversation, nature
>study and hands-on work are emphasized, rather than learning just in the
>classroom, through reading and writing. The folk school experience at
>The Clearing is a unique combination of learning, history, tradition,
>social interaction and quiet reflection.
>
>The Clearing offers a wide range of classes, including
>painting, writing, quilting, birding, wood carving, poetry, rustic
>furniture making, photography, poetry, fine wood-working, music,
>weaving, philosophy, stained glass, metal work, nature study and paper
>arts. All Clearing classes are taught in a relaxed, informal style.
>
>PS I learned of it on Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network.
>It's pledge week on MN Public Radio so I've been listening
>radio via streaming audio also including:
>o NPR via KWIT in Sioux City (and hearing school late start
>  announcements for schools I attended :)
>o KPFA (Pacifica)
>o Air America (the local staion is AM **
>o KFAI S Minneapolis / St Paul **
>** hard to listen off the air to with the radio by my computer
>
>PS_#2 I've gotten Mpls Wireless recently and also a
>One Laptop Per Child laptop (from NGO that aims to get millions
>of them to school kids in the third world.  Blog entries on both at:
>http://fholson.cohousing.org/blog
>
>Fred
>
>--
>Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
>Communications for Justice -- Free, superior listserv's w/o ads:
>http://justcomm.org      My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org
>612-588-9532 (7am-10pm CST/CDT)   Email: fholson at cohousing.org
>
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