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              The New York Folklore Society welcomes suggestions for future forum topics. E-mail us at NYFS, or call 518/346-7008. New York Folklore Society P.O. Box 764 Schenectady, NY 12301 518/346-7008 Fax 518/346-6617 nyfs@nyfolklore.org |
PROGRAMS & SERVICES | NY FIELD TRIPS | FORUMS | MENTORING | ARCHIVES | ADVOCACY | SEARCH Forums, Workshops, and Roundtable DiscussionsEvery year the New York Folklore Society holds forums on topics of interest to the folklore field, professionals in related fields, and NYFS members in various parts of the state. These meetings are informal, although they include presentations as springboards for discussion. The series began in the late 1980s when a group of folklorists met to address various issues faced in their work. See below for examples of some of our recent forums and check this page again for announcements for upcoming forums. E-mail us or call the office at 518/346-7008 for more information.
New York State Music Fund Professional Development Seminars Border Crossing Issues for Artists
Marketing and Promotion for Traditional Musicians
What is intellectual property? Does it concern me? How can I start promoting my music? Do I need a business model? How can I best utilize online technologies? If you’re a traditional musician and you’ve ever asked yourself these kinds of questions, we’ve got a series of workshops designed just for you. The New York Folklore Society, in conjunction with the Tri County Arts Council and The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library, announce a series of free, regional workshops geared especially towards the traditional musician. The discussions will delve into legal, marketing and technology issues, and will be led by panelists who are experienced in their fields. Come to one or come to both! The workshops are free, but pre-registration is required. Please contact Lisa Overholser at the New York Folklore Society (lisa@nyfolklore.org, 518.346.7008) to register by February 15, 2008.
These workshops are supported by the New York State Music Fund, administered by the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Folk Arts-in-Education Forum
The forum focused on creating Arts-in-Education (AIE) networks between schools and traditional musicians and other folk artists. The music and art created by traditional artists carry a specific cultural identity. Usually, they have learned their music and art from family and community through informal means. Folk artists teach both their art form and their heritage. The forum provided an opportunity for educators and traditional musicians and artists to meet and discuss how traditional arts and music enrich the curriculum and learn about possible funding sources. The forum included performances by five traditional musicians and artists from the region including an Old-Time fiddler, an Irish fiddler, an African drummer, a folk dancer from India, and a traditional vocalist. Participating teachers received a Certificate of Completion, which they may submit to their districts to request Professional Development credits. This forum was made possible by funding from the New York State Music Fund. Syracuse Workshops for Folk and Traditional Musicians
Session I (Thursday, Sept. 18; 7:00-10:00 p.m.): Legal Issues for Acoustic Musicians, presented by Arts Attorney, Paul Rapp. This session provided insights into intellectual property rights for musicians, writing performing and recording contracts, and web-based opportunities and challenges. Refreshments were provided. Venue: Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse/Civic Center Paul Rapp is an intellectual property lawyer who lives and works in Housatonic, MA. Rapp teaches art and entertainment law at Albany Law School, and writes about music, art, and the law for The Artful Mind and Metroland. He also goes by the name, F. Lee Harvey Blotto, when he’s the drummer with the Albany rock band, Blotto. Session II (Friday, September 19: 1:00-6:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 20, 2008 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.) Audio Recording and Editing for Acoustic Musicians Limited to 12 participants Audiophile Elias Gwinn led a two-day workshop on the essentials of live and studio recording and editing for publicity and promotion. Musicians were encouraged to bring instruments to make demo recordings. Venue: Velidoxi Recording Studio Elias Gwinn is a recording engineer and producer, as well as an electrical engineer with Benchmark Media Systems, one of the premier names in professional recording technology. Elias has been recording and producing with Subcat Studios in Skaneateles, NY for the past 4 years, as well as producing independently for 6 years. In early 2008, Elias opened Velidoxi, an artist residency and pre-production recording suite. The NYFS Workshops for Folk and Traditional Musicians is made possible by funding from the New York State Music Fund. For further information about this program contact the New York Folklore Society at 518-346-7008, nyfs@nyfolklore.org. Academic and Public Sector Folklore in New York State: Increasing Communication and Collaboration
The New York Folklore Society held a very successful and important Forum designed to bring academic and public sector folklorists together for active dialogue in two topic areas related to the future of the field: a) increasing public sector/academic collaboration and b) strengthening/re-establishing folklore’s academic foundation in New York State. We envisioned this Forum as the beginning of a discussion, with working sessions that allow us to generate resolutions toward shared action. Organized with the assistance of Eileen Condon, the forum was an assembling of individuals interested in raising the profile of the field of folklore and giving support to university-based folklore programs. The forum resulted in a plan of action. Leading folklorists working in academe and the public sector in New York offered mini-presentations to kick off each working session, offering constructive insights and preliminary suggestions for action in these areas. Invited speakers included Faye McMahon (Syracuse), Libby Tucker (University at Binghamton), Lydia Fish (Buffalo State), Varick Chittenden (TAUNY, retired SUNY at Canton), and Robert Baron (NYSCA). Lydia Fish is instituting a wiki to keep the project moving. In attendance was also Grace Nono, a visiting traditional musician and scholar from the Philippines. This NYFS Folk Arts Forum “Academic and Public Sector Folklore in New York State: Increasing Communication and Collaboration” is made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Add your Name to a Waiting List for a repeat of this workshop later in the year. Audio Recording and Production Workshop for Folklorists, Presenters, and Musicians
See the Workshop web page for more information. Folk Artists and Folk Arts Professionals: Partnering in Promotion
Session I (2:00-2:45): Writing Better Performance/Arts Event Contracts, coordinated by Arts Attorney Peter Irvine. For this session, artists and folk arts professionals were encouraged to submit a copy of the contract template(s) they presently use. Mr. Irvine provided written evaluation of each contract template before the meeting, enriching the session presentation and discussion at the Forum. Session II (3:00-3:45): Health Insurance Options for Artists. An information session and dialogue, coordinated by Adam J. Natale, a representative of the nonprofit organization Fractured Atlas. Fractured Atlas helps artists and arts organizations across the nation function better as businesses by providing access to funding, low-cost healthcare and liability insurance, education, and more. New York Folklore Society hopes to partner with Fractured Atlas in future to offer Fractured Atlas’s health insurance as a benefit of NYFS membership. FA is in the process of building an upstate artist group to extend lower group rates to artists in regions outside New York City. (For more information on NYFS membership visit NYFS Membership.) Photo Portrait Session and Dinner Break (4:00-7:00): In the remaining time (4:00-7:00) we dined in the neighborhood and socialized while artists took turns doing photo portraits on Long Island Traditions premises with professional photographer Tim Raab. Artists received one free print based on their photo session at the Forum, courtesy of the New York Folklore Society. High-quality, enhanced additional shots were made available to artists after the meeting, for optional purchase at modest cost via Tim’s online photography site. Artists were encouraged to read Tim’s Tips for Preparing for a Portrait before coming, to make the best use of the brief portrait session at the Forum. Tim Raab is the official photographer for Catskills Irish Arts Week and specializes in artist portrait photography. The NYFS Folk Arts Forum for Folk Artists and Folk Arts Professionals: Partnering in Promotion was made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Music Fund and in collaboration with Long Island Traditions. Partnerships and Dialogue in Work with Immigrant Artists
Read a partial transcript from this forum, as published in Voices 32(3-4):3-12. View Schedule Symposium on New Archival and Ethnographic Technologies
Read more about this symposium. Folk Arts Forum on Immigrant/Refugee Issues
Read more about this forum, Folklore and the Erie Canalway
In December 2000, the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor was adopted by Congress. This designation applies to all 234 municipalities adjoining the 524 miles of navigable waterway that comprise the New York State Canal System. In this Forum we learned about the Heritage Corridor and discussed several folk arts projects related to canals in New York State, including a new series of collaborative projects that are being planned begin in 2006. We also had the opportunity to tour the Erie Canal Museum. Built to Use, Not to Last: Temporary Structures and the Use of Space in Community Life
On Thursday, August 14, 2003 the New York Folklore Society hosted a day-long forum on vernacular architecture in cooperation with the Mabee Farm, a historic site documented as the oldest Dutch Farm in the Mohawk Valley. The farm is located on the Mohawk River between Schenectday and Amsterdam at Rotterdam Junction, NY (on Route 5S). The meeting took place in the Farm's reconstructed Dutch Barn, and as part of the day we toured the house, outbuildings and grounds with Stan Lee, Co-Chair of the Mabee Farm governing committee. The New York Folklore Society forums are loosely organized presentations with participatory discussion centered around a theme. This forum’s theme, "Built to Use, Not to Last: Temporary Structures and the Use of Space in Community Life," explored the use of constructed space and its meanings within the community. Issues for discussion included:
What to Do with Those Oral Histories Co-sponsored by Center for Folklife, History and Cultural Programs, Crandall Public Library
Presenting was folklorist Greg Sharrow, Director of Education at the Vermont Folklife Center. The Vermont Folklife Center has found remarkable uses for its collection of recorded narratives including a series of children’s books and radio programming. Mr. Sharrow offered ideas and practical advice about exhibitions, publications and other products that can grow out of oral histories. The presentation was in conjunction with the Crandall Library’s exhibition, Family Stories, Family Sagas, an innovative audio-visual installation showcasing the remarkable histories of six New England families who share a powerful tradition of storytelling to preserve their identity and heritage (through April 30). Vernacular Architecture of the Hudson Valley/Catskill Regions of New York State Co-sponsored by the Huguenot Historical Society
Presenting was Neil Larson discussing stone houses in Ulster County; Jack Braunlein, Director of the Huguenot Society, discussing the Huguenot structures listed on the National Register and conducting a tour of the site; Nancy Solomon speaking on the methodology of studying vernacular architecture; and Peter Sinclair speaking about the work of the Society for the Preservation of Hudson Valley Architecture and the Dutch Barn Preservation Society. The forum was successful with a very attentive crowd of people from local historical societies; a researcher from the State Museum in Albany; an archaeologist working on the Fort Orange site (one of the original settlements near Albany); several well known musicians; Lee Haring, past president of the New York Folklore Society; and many other folklore enthusiasts. The presentations were exceptional. Nancy Solomon gave an overview of the folklore perspective to the study of vernacular architecture. Neil Larson, long known as probably the best material studies researcher in the state, explained the history of the stone houses of Ulster County, including interesting details about dating techniques for structures. Peter Sinclair described the extensive documentation and reconstruction of several houses in the Hudson Valley. Jack Braunlein, past president of the New York Folklore Society, student of Louis Jones and Bruce Buckley, best known for his extensive field research in Madison County, described the Huguenot structures in great detail and led a tour of several of the houses, some parts of which have been dated by tree ring samples as built in the 1680’s. Field Recordings in Archives: Preservation and Related Issues—A Continuing Dialogue Co-sponsored by the Center for Folklife at the Crandall Public Library and the Southern Adirondack Library System
Congratulations to the Association again for the number 1 record of the soundtrack "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou," which features songs from the Lomax Collection, and for winning album of the year from the CMA’s Country Music Awards along with best song. This is a triumph for roots music, as this record had no serious air play, and is approaching triple platinum sales. Just the Human Thing to Do: Dutch People Who Rescued People During World War II A Lecture by Mark Klempner
Field Recordings in Archives: Preservation and Related Issues Hosted by Anna Chairetakis and the staff of the Association for Cultural Equity.
The Alan Lomax Archives site contains many valuble resource links for preservation, copyright issues and licensing. Many thanks to Anna and her outstanding staff in hosting one of the best NYFS Forums ever. Heritage and Cultural Tourism in New York State The New York Folklore Society partnered with the Arts Center of the Capital Region and folklorist Mary Zwolinski to host a forum on heritage tourism at their beautiful facility in downtown Troy, New York. This forum brought together representatives of heritage tourism groups and local tour operators, as well as folklorists and specialists in related fields, including National Park Service personnel from Saratoga Battlefield National Park, to discuss future collaborations and the problems and the benefits associated with cultural tourism initiatives.
Exhibit Design This forum was hosted by Castellani Art Museum, of Niagara University in Niagara Falls, and featured the exhibition, Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life. Discussion on former exhibitions, included factors of design and implementation. Hosted by Kate Koperski, Curator of Folk Arts and Dr. Sandra Olsen, Director of the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University. Kate Koperski led one session with a presentation on the philosophy of curating and exhibiting from the folklore perspective. Dr. Jolene Rickard, Tuscarora artist and assistant professor of art and art history, provided an in-depth presentation of Iroquois culture through the artwork represented in "Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life."
Archives Roundtable at the Seneca Falls Museum A discussion of issues of preservation and access of folklore and folklife materials.
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