Honoring Our Past While We Look To Our Future

“…we can only do the best we can to meet the situation while at the same time we lay deeper foundations for the future.”

          – Olive Dame Campbell, From the Mountain Worker’s Point of View: Economic Conditions ” Mountain Life & Work vol. 09 no. 2 July, 1933

The Folk School started with the support of our local community. The Scroggs family donated land for the first buildings, with more than 100 community members providing labor, materials, and supplies to create the foundation for the Folk School we still gather in today. The support we receive from our community is still strong, and our circle has grown to include donors from all across the country. This generosity provides the very thing Olive remarked upon in 1933 – a deeper foundation for our future.

As we plan for next year, we know we want to continue this work of strengthening our foundation. Our goal is to continue to be a place that allows students from all over the world to gather, enhance their skills in craft, and share what they learn with their communities. To be a campus that allows students to find respite from what their daily lives hold, sharing the joys of what they’ve learned over their week or weekend.

Strengthening our foundations means enhancing spaces on campus – reimagining our Moulton Gardens, cleaning and redeveloping our trail systems for community use, maintaining our studios and housing, and preparing to withstand a storm like Hurricane Helene.

When you make a gift today, you are supporting the foundation that Olive Dame Campbell laid for the Folk School as a community resource and helping us imagine our next 100 years. We look forward to seeing you on campus and continuing to share the impact of your support as part of our Folk School Family. Together, we will continue to make a great Folk School.