Mentorships & Internships

Traditional Craft Mentorships bring skilled practitioners of Appalachian craft together with emerging artists for a period of focused creative study in small groups. This program aims to support emerging artists through mentorship, shared studio practice, and relationship building. It helps preserve and promote traditional craft and ensure that traditional skills are passed down to future practitioners.

Mentorships are tuition-free learning opportunities. Selected applicants are awarded room and board at no cost and a stipend of $450 to help with travel and materials.  

2025 Traditional Craft Mentorship Program

We are offering the following two-week-long sessions July 13-26, 2025.

BOOK ARTS – Career Training for Professional Hand Bookbinding and Repair 

CLAY – Wild Clay: Process and Place 

JEWELRY – The Art of Bead Stringing: From Artist to Entrepreneur  

Applications for our 2025 Mentorship program will open on January 15, 2025.

Applications are now closed for our Garden Internship program!

For those looking to gain practical and hands-on cultivation experience, the Folk School offers a Garden Internship program.

From March-October each year, one intern will assist our Gardener Jason Ebinger in developing and implementing season-long plans for the Folk School’s garden, leading participants in the Work Study program, and performing overall maintenance.

The Folk School’s garden produces a diverse array of crops and supports the programming of many classes and studios with dye plants, broom corn, basket willow, and more.

This is a learning position with the opportunity for the right candidate to shape their experience based on their personal areas of interest. Compensation includes a monthly stipend, room and board, and a class resource. This position will ideally be filled by someone available for the entire garden season, but applicants only available for a portion of that time will be considered.