Folk Artisans

Artisans continue the folk arts tradition at Great Camp Sagamore, supported for nearly two decades by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA.)  These talented traditional artists who have learned from their forebears have demonstrated for tours in July and August:

• Bill Smith, the Adirondack pack basket
• Francoise Ouimet, wagon wheel rugs
• Annis Holmes, buff mittens
• David Woodward, blacksmithing
• Helen Condon, braided wool rugs
• Chris Ferris-Hubbard, chair caning
• Ron Riley, wood carving
• Chris Woodward, the Adirondack guide boat

Visitors who see presentations at 10am or 1:30pm report a greatly enhanced tour experience.  Great Camp Sagamore is proud of its long partnership with NYSCA and is pleased to be a place where people can learn about traditional arts from these wonderful people.

 

Join us in 2012 for a tour featuring Sagamore guest artisans; see their schedule below:

July 4-8, Bill Smith  ~ Adirondack Pack Basket Builder

Bill Smith, like his family before him, has always lived in the northern Adirondack woods, near Colton, NY.  He has been a hunter, fisherman, trapper, guide, logger, teacher and, more recently, a storyteller and singer/songwriter. Today he demonstrates the traditional craft of weaving strong and durable work baskets from hand-pounded native ash trees, which he first learned as a boy from Mohawk men who worked with his father in logging camps. He continues today to work with hand tools and forms that have been used for centuries by basket makers in the region.

Bill is something of an institution at Sagamore, having taught courses that include flora and fauna, guiding, storytelling and stick-carving, as well as basket-weaving.  This year, Bill will be teaching Rustic Twig Furniture Making from Sept. 9-13.  

For all these reasons, we call Bill a living Adirondack Legend.

July 9-13, Chris Woodward ~ Guide Boat Builder

Chris Woodward learned as a teenager when he “borrowed” an old Guide Boat that it was superior to any canoe he had ever tried and knew right then that he had to have one. Years later, he became an apprentice to the last of the traditional builders—Carl Hathaway and Ralph Morrow of Saranac Lake, NY—and has been working on these “Cadillacs of wooden boats” ever since. In 1991 he purchased Hathaway’s shop where today he repairs and restores old boats and builds about one new guideboat each year.

Among his many services to Sagamore over the years, Chris helped us to restore the original Caleb Chase Adirondack Guide Boat that is on display in the Carriage Shed.  

July 14-16, Chris Hubbard  ~ Chair/Seat Caner

When teenager Christine (nee Ferris) Hubbard of Salem, NY, inherited a small wooden chair from her grandmother, she wanted to restore the original cane seat. After failed attempts to follow directions from a book, she consulted an old neighbor who was well known around her town for repairing chairs and weaving cane and splint seats. Chris has since mastered the popular Victorian craft of weaving seats from natural materials that experienced a strong revival after WWII. She now frequently reweaves broken chair seats and teaches others, including her son and students, this craft.

Chris teaches her caning to various groups at Sagamore, including our Grandmother & Granddaughter courses through Road Scholar.  She’s also repaired many of chairs used by guests throughout camp, as well as the seat in the Adirondack Guide Boat in the Carriage Shed.  

July 20-24, David Woodward  ~ Blacksmith

David Woodward of Easy Street near Paul Smiths and Lake Clear, NY, today continues to practice the ancient craft of working iron, not as a farrier shoeing horses, but as a toolmaker. That means he makes and creates building hardware, lighting fixtures, and custom iron work like that made for the Adirondack Great Camps by staff blacksmiths of old. A seventh-generation native of the Adirondack High Peaks region, he is proud to own the anvil brought long ago from the old family farm in Vermont.

David has made or repaired countless tools and accessories at Sagamore over the years, from locks and hinges to fixtures and utensils.   He also donates a handmade piece for Sagamore’s annual fundraising benefit, the Grand Tour, each August.  David also works with Saga-Grands each year, and has been involved with NYSATA’s Summer Institute at Sagamore.   

August 3-5, Helen Condon  ~ Wool Rug Braider

Like her Nova Scotia-born grandmother before her, Helen Condon continues the long-honored tradition of making beautiful braided rugs from recycled scraps of wool. “Waste not, want not,” was the old rule, so rural women saved materials from well-worn clothing, blankets, even empty flour sacks to cut into strips, dye with a variety of colors and fashion into durable and beautiful floor coverings. From her studio in a converted Grange Hall in Parishville, NY, Helen now creates rugs large and small on commission and teaches as many younger people as are willing to learn about this vanishing craft.

Along with repairing many of Sagamore’s heritage rugs over the years, Helen also braids and donates an original-design rug each year, which is offered in the Silent Auction as part of Sagamore’s annual benefit.  

August 10-12, Francoise Ouimet  ~ Wagon Wheel Rug Weaver

Growing up in a French American community near Cohoes, NY, Francoise eventually learned the craft of making small throw rugs from her Quebec-born mother-in-law. She began by using scrap materials from the textile mills that were an important industry in the area at the time. For forms, she uses wooden wheels from old carriages or wagons from which the hub and spokes have been removed and nails added to the rims to attach the individual strips of fabrics. This rural farmhouse tradition seems to have nearly disappeared today.

August 18-22, Ron Riley ~ Wood Carver

A retired career printer, Ron Riley of Massena, NY practices and teaches the long-time North Country tradition of carving wood into various forms. Begun as a hobby for Ron several years ago, wood carving has always been a common craft here. At one time, men who lived long winter months in the Adirondack logging camps would spend idle hours carving wood scraps into tools or toys and trinkets for family members back home. Today, Ron is an enthusiastic carver who encourages others, particularly children, to take up the art.

Ron is a natural teacher, and frequently donates his time to instruct Sagamore guests.  This year, Ron will be working with incoming freshmen from Syracuse University, who are coming to Sagamore as part of LOOP, SU’s pre-orientation program.

August 23-26, Ada Cross ~ Buff Mitten Knitter

Taking over folk arts presentations from her mother, Annis Holmes, Ada demonstrates the special knitting technique of creating a mitten tough enough to stand up to the rigors of winter logging in the Adirondacks.  Ada learned to knit from Annis at their home in Chestertown, NY, and today continues the active knitting and teaching her creative mother passed on to her. She is a master of designs and patterns for sweaters and hats as well as mittens. The thick and durable buff mittens, traditionally used by old-time loggers, are always a surprise to visitors who are fascinated by her presentations.

We look forward to welcoming you to Great Camp Sagamore, click here for a tour preview.