There’s always something happening in the evening at the Folk School. There are square, contra and circle dancing, music concerts, craft demonstrations, storytelling and bingo. And those are only the scheduled activities. There are also informal get-togethers for music jams and shared making sessions. One of these informal activities is Thursday evening wood carving. A small group of regulars‒Folk School employees, work study students and members of the community‒get-together under the cherished guidance of Richard Carter. There’s a little bit of carving and a whole lot of camaraderie and laughter. It’s quickly becoming my favorite part of the week. This type of shared making and informal support group is the heart and soul of the Folk School.
Here’s my first attempt at woodcarving… nothing spectacular but good enough to make me want to keep trying!
The traditional craft of woodcarving has a special place in the Folk School’s history. A number of experimental programs were put in place when the Folk School was first established in 1925. Back in the day, a group of local men would gather on a wooden bench on the porch of Fred O. Scroggs’ general store in Brasstown. These men would whittle wood with their pocket knives to pass the time. When they ran out of wood, they started carving the wooden bench on which they sat. Scroggs tried to stop this activity by driving nails into the bench but the local men simply carved around the nails. The original bench, known as the Carving Bench, is on display at the Folk School History Center today.
You can still see the nails that Fred O. Scroggs used in his attempt to deter the local men from carving away his bench.
As the story goes, Olive Dame Campbell (co-founder of the Folk School) noticed the local carvers and asked them what they were making. “Shavings” they replied. She saw past their response and recognized the potential of their woodcarving skills. She proposed a woodcarving class to teach these men how to create shapes with their knives. In this program, the Folk School provided the men with blocks of wood, equipment, instruction and bookkeeping. In turn, the men would carve wooden figurines and bring them back to the Folk School to sell. Over time, the program evolved to a weekly routine whereby the carvers would come to the Folk School every Friday morning to deliver their finished carvings, meet with the carving staff and fellow carvers, and pick up new blocks of wood. This illustrious group of carvers became known as the Brasstown Carvers.
The woodcarving program was one of the Folk School’s most successful programs. The program models John and Olive Campbell’s intentions to improve the quality of life by education while preserving and sharing the crafts, techniques and tools used by the mountain people in everyday life. The woodcarving program exemplified the community collaboration Olive Dame Campbell knew would be critical to the success of the Folk School. As documented in the unique history of the Folk School, Campbell “realized, more than many reformers of the day, that they could not impose their ideas on the mountain people. They would need to develop a genuine collaboration.”
The legacy of the first Brasstown Carvers is honored and treasured by the Folk School to this day. There’s a great exhibit in the Folk School History Center that highlights their history and features the work of several of the woodcarvers. In addition, the Folk School has an extensive collection of Brasstown Carvers’ work. Here are a few examples.
This bear was carved by Dexter Dockery (1931-2015). Dexter began carving at age 18 and was a lifetime member of the Southern Highland Handcraft Guild. He was best known for his graceful, hand-carved birds.
Ben Hall carved this squirrel. Ben was one of Brasstown’s most prolific carvers. At a time when opportunities to earn a cash income were scarce, Ben Hall and his brothers John and Elisha chose to stay put and carve. “In 1936 Ben Hall reported that he would rather carve than work at building a TVA dam and noted that carving enabled him to buy glasses for his son. … By the 1940s, 45 carvers received pay for their work. … A 1942 roster lists their income for the year. Ben Hall was paid the most—$758.00.”
These next two carvings, the doe and the pair of owls, were carved by Sue McClure (1916-1994). Sue was known for her wide range of subject material including bears, deer, and chicken. In a Dec 1, 1947 letter, from Sue to Murray Martin, the carving instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School, she wrote:“… seams as though I haven’t seen you all in a very long time and it has been over 3 weeks you see how much I think of you all and my carving when I hatfo stay away for only 3 week I think it is years…”. Sue went on to say that carving was the most enjoyable work she’d ever done.
Martha Coffey (1916-2014) carved this rooster and chickens. Martha was featured in the book The Brasstown Carvers (1990). At the time, “Martha carves six to eight hours daily, first roughing out a piece in the evening and doing finish work every morning. She carves on her couch that sits beside her front door. A view of her flower garden and spectacular cannas lies just beyond the porch. Martha is the only carver in her family, now carving for over twenty years. She started carving after someone gave her an elephant napkin ring. “I bought a knife and tried to copy it. Soon thereafter Martha was studying under Murray Martin. “She showed us the process and made us do them over until we did them right.”
You may have noticed that 2 of the 4 woodcarvers included here were women. While the Brasstown Carvers were mainly men at the outset, women did much of the sanding and finishing. It’s reported that “Little by little women entered the cooperative, with an influx of women during World War II. By 1946 women made up the majority with 33 women carvers and 18 men. Carving turned out to be a craft that crossed the lines of gender and age, in some cases allowing entire families to carve together providing an income while creating a tradition.”
The Brasstown Carvers were at their peak in the 1930s and 1940s but the tradition lives on including through our Thursday evening woodcarving get-togethers. I’ve only been attending for a few weeks but already I can relate to Sue McClure’s thoughts that when she had to stay away for only 3 weeks, it felt like years!
Special thanks to my new friend and fellow work study participant, Patty, for her assistance with the photo shoot for this post.
More Info
If you missed my post on First Impressions as a Work Study Student, check it out to learn about the John C Campbell Folk School and my participation in the Work Study Program. Here are links to my previous posts about the Folk School:
. Artistic Details Around Campus
You can also learn more about the Story of the Brasstown Carvers or the John C Campbell Folk School on their website.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider how genuine collaboration between humanitarian organizations and the communities they strive to support can lead to successful programs with life-changing benefits.
2. When learning something new, explore opportunities to get-together with others in the same situation for sharing and support.
3. Remember the importance of practice and experience. Most of the Brasstown Carvers carved every day for many years before creating their beautiful carvings.
This clever bench, located outside the Craft Shop, is similar to the one I used to stage my new basket in my previous post, 
There is an abundance of interesting metalwork around campus. This beautiful metal gate from the Garden area has made its way into every one of my Folk School posts thus far.
Here’s my favorite door handle found on the Big Barn. Isn’t that ram’s head amazing?
This fun cat sculpture, made from recycled metal parts, is nestled in the garden in front of Keith House.
This striking rooster sculpture soars above the Vegetable Garden.
And here’s the real thing, also found in the Vegetable Garden area. Isn’t he handsome?
Studio entrances have their own unique personalities. Here’s an interesting outdoor weaving displayed at the Fiber Arts Studio.
The entrance to the Woodcarving Studio is graced with the carving of a whale.
Not to be outdone, the Maintenance and Housekeeping department has their own unique Studio sign.
Here you can see the base woven to size with everything still flat.
After folding up the stakes and holding them in place with rubber bands and clothespins, the basket started to take shape.
As you might expect, the next step was to weave up the sides of the basket. The twine you see in the below photo is used to keep the base square. This was one of the special techniques Susan shared with the class.
Things got really interesting about midway up the basket when we started experimenting with round reed and twining.
I chose to add 4 rows of twining arranged in an arrow pattern (visible at the bottom of photo below). Next we adjusted our “weavers” (ie the horizontal strips of reed) to taper the sides around the handle.
Finishing up the rim and adding the pretty embellishments involved a number of tricky steps. Here’s the top edge in progress.
Just as I was finishing the rim, I made a mistake and cut the inside ends too short. Ooops! Luckily, some expert advice and a little glue solved the problem.
Despite that little misstep, I’m proud to say my market basket turned out beautifully. The sides are nice and straight. The corners are square and level. The double stripes of twining, the lacy finish on the rim and the interwoven wrap on the handle dress it up nicely. Here’s my finished market basket photographed in the Keith House Community Room at the Folk School.
Here it is in our class display at the Student Exhibit.
The Student Exhibit is a beloved tradition at the Folk School. On the last day of class, all students display their projects in Keith House. It’s an opportunity for everyone to share what they’ve made and to see or hear everyone else’s work. It’s great fun as we’re all in awe of what has been accomplished! The funny thing is that students are inevitably drawn to exhibits of a new craft they’d like to try and they immediately start making plans to return to the Folk School!
This bench is a splendid marriage of stone and metal with the most amazing little details. Notice how the artist incorporated a vintage tap handle and clay flower pot into the bench design.
I’d like to wrap up with a special thanks to my fellow Basketry students and our instructors Susan B Taylor and John Roller. You all made it a great experience!
This pretty plaque was created with glass fusing.
3. Cold glass techniques include grinding, polishing, etching, and engraving. According to Wikipedia, traditional stained glass work and lead crystal also fit in this category. Lead crystal, such as the well-known Waterford Crystal, is made by cutting glass with a diamond saw, or copper wheels embedded with abrasives, and polishing it to give gleaming facets.
