Okanagan Folk School students holding their creations after a class.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED Okanagan Folk School
October 21, 2023 - 12:00 PM
The Okanagan Folk School in Peachland wants to build community through art with its latest selection of courses.
The school’s latest Fall classes include stained glass, sketching, wreath weaving, drumming, and more.
The school’s president and founder, Murray Wood, says making things out of glass, felt, and plant fibres is a way to bring people together.
“Loneliness is a chronic problem in Canada,” Wood said. “When people get together and they create something with their hands, and minds, and they’re laughing while they’re doing it and meeting people then that’s a great way to deal with loneliness.”
The school is a non-profit and is working towards getting grants from groups like the Gaming Commission and United Way to expand their course selection and start hosting events for a range of artists.
READ MORE: From ukuleles to hiking, Okanagan Folk School ready to make economic impact
One of the main objectives of the folk school is to help support local artists.
“We’ve had a couple of people who have been able to go professional because of the folk school. They made a decision that they were going to pursue the art of their choice full time and we try our best to support them,” Wood said.
A felt lizard which is the type of thing people could learn how to make at the school's felt needling course.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED Okanagan Folk School
Running a school is a lot of work, but Wood says it is worth it.
“More than a couple of instructors have come up and hugged me and said thank you so much for doing this,” Wood said. “People having such a good time taking the courses and seeing the delight the instructors get out of teaching the courses. When we get that feedback it makes it feel like it’s worth it.”
Wood wants to make Peachland an art destination and help bring in tourism dollars in the off-season. He was inspired to start the school because he heard about North House folk school in Minnesota which brings tourism dollars to the area all year round.
“It was like the town got a slow transfusion over time. Stores opened and stayed open. Restaurant staff would have a job year round. People would be buying gas, staying at the B&Bs,” Wood said.
Since starting the school in 2021, Wood has been on a mission to help adults reconnect with their creative side, but hopes the school can expand to run programs for youth.
“My experience with the school system is as they go through it, a lot of the creativity gets squished out of them. We’d like to instil confidence in them doing crafts and not having any colour-between-the-lines rules. That goes for adults too,” Wood said.
Learn more or sign up for classes on the folk school’s website.
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