The Folk Arts Program at the Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council supports our area's living cultural heritage through documentation and public programming of traditional arts. Folk arts are traditional cultural expressions through which a group maintains and passes on its shared way of life. They are usually learned informally, yet remain important expressions of a community's sense of beauty, identity and values. They range from verbal "lore" like local ghost stories, children's rhymes or family sayings, to material arts like woodcarving, basket weaving, quilting or fly tying, to performance arts like fiddling, break dancing, or square dance calling. Your family, your church, your neighborhood-these are all groups that practice and maintain creative traditions that give meaning to everyday life.

Our folk arts program has been active since the late 1980s in both Orleans and Genesee Counties. Orleans County cultural leader, Nils Cassperson, presented programs in those years on fishing, fly tying, quilting and old time fiddle music. Folklorist Kathy Kimiciek worked in Genesee County from 1988-1990, documenting a variety of agricultural traditions, musical groups and outdoor murals. Along with folklorist Daniel Ward, she published the first of our folk arts program booklets in 1989, highlighting various folk arts and artisans in the region. In 1996 Karen Canning became the staff folklorist for the region encompassing Wyoming, Livingston, Genesee and Orleans Counties. A Folk Arts Program Booklet has continued to be produced each year since 1989, and you can follow this link to download a pdf version of the 2010 edition, "Rhythms & Rides." [Will open PDF in new browser window.]

Our program often collaborates with community and regional organizations, including the Orleans County Tourism Department, local governments, libraries, festival organizers, schools and colleges. We have established annual presentations of local and ethnic music at GO ART's Picnic in the Park every July 4th, and co-sponsor an annual traditional music concert at the Orleans County Marine Park. Other events of recent years include a "Call-Off" featuring square dance callers and musicians; a concert of Italian American music; demonstrations of Native American beadwork, cornhusk dolls, and legends; Mexican paper cutting workshops; and demonstrations of quilting, Mexican basket weaving, carving, and water witching. Our program also participates in regional activities with The Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, and the Arts Council for Wyoming County. We receive major support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Folk Arts Program.

We are available to offer technical assistance to traditional artists in our counties, and are always seeking to update our archival files to include current information about our region's rich local culture and traditions. If you practice an art or craft and would like more information, please contact us at the GO ART! office by phone, email, mail, or come visit us at 201 East Main St., Batavia NY.