Scholarships

The Folk School awards a number of scholarships each year, providing partial or full financial support for a weeklong or weekend class.

Scholarships are awarded to folks who demonstrate financial need along with an admiration for the Folk School’s unique education model. Lifelong learners, young adults, craftspeople who have never attended the Folk School, and anyone else facing financial hurdles are encouraged to apply.

  • Scholarship applications are available online.
  • Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
  • Applications are accepted year-round. There is no deadline, but scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and are dependent on space availability.
  • Applications typically take four weeks to be processed.
  • Please note: We are unable to award scholarships for classes in which you are already enrolled.

Tuition-only scholarships cover the cost of tuition, and full scholarships cover the cost of tuition, housing, and meals. Please be advised that a full scholarship does not cover the cost of class materials fees or transportation to the Folk School. The Atlanta airport shuttle can be scheduled in advance through the Folk School for an estimated fee of $130 each way.

The Folk School also offers a 25% tuition discount and guaranteed seats to residents of nine surrounding counties, along with teachers and young adults 18-25. Click here for more details. Some of our full scholarship funds require an applicant to meet set criteria. Below, you can find more information about our available scholarship funds and their qualifications.

Folk School-Funded Scholarships

Looking inside a kaleidoscope

Folk School Tuition-Only Scholarships

Folk School Tuition-Only Scholarships provide financial support to those who need help covering the cost of tuition for any full-price, weekend or weeklong class at the Folk School. Tuition scholarships are awarded according to financial need and on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Folk School Full Scholarships

Folk School Full Scholarships cover the cost of tuition, housing, and meals for any full-price, weekend or weeklong class. Full scholarships are intended to support individuals who are actively involved in the preservation of traditional craft, music, and dance, use craft for philanthropic purposes, are studying or teaching craft, are working towards practicing craft on a professional or semi-professional level and/or live in the Appalachian region.

Grant-Funded Scholarships

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Craft Education Scholarships

Windgate Foundation has generously provided scholarships covering tuition, housing, and meals for classes in the following program areas: basketry and gourds; beads; blacksmithing; book arts; broom making; chair seats; clay; dolls & bears; dyeing; enameling; felt making; glass; jewelry; kaleidoscopes; knitting & crochet; lace; leather; marbling; metalwork; mixed media; needlework & thread art; paper art; printmaking; quilting; rugs; sewing; soap making; spinning; stone, sculpture & mosaics; surface design; weaving; woodcarving; woodturning; and woodworking.

Donor-Funded Scholarships

Thanks to generous donors funding individual scholarships and endowing perpetual scholarships, the following scholarships are currently available.
Donor-Funded Scholarship balances change regularly, so check back periodically for scholarship opportunities.
A vibrant rag rug in progress

Betty Smith Weaving Scholarship

This scholarship honors a great friend and supporter of the school who also contributed to its Weaving program for many years as a beloved instructor. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend weaving class.

Constructing a mini clay pot

Blue Ridge Potters Guild Scholarships

Thanks to the Guild, residents of Virginia in need of financial assistance to participate in a clay class may apply for one of these two scholarships covering tuition, housing, and meals.

Moving Iron in the Blacksmith Studio

Clay Smith Blacksmithing Scholarship

This scholarship memorializes a friend of the school who made numerous contributions to its Blacksmithing program for many years as a talented instructor. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend blacksmithing class.

Couple contra dancing

Danny Wilson Dance Scholarship

Two dance class scholarships have been funded by those who cared for Danny Wilson and his family. Danny worked and played (and danced!) at the Folk School for decades, and these tuition, housing, and meals scholarships honor his memory.

Violinist at work

David Kaynor Memorial Dance Musicians Week Scholarship

Provided by his many friends in memory of dance musician David Kaynor, this scholarship is dedicated to his passion for dance music and for life. It covers tuition for the school’s annual Dance Musicians Week for someone who would otherwise be unable to attend.

David Rakoff Memorial Scholarship

David Rakoff Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship celebrates the life of David Rakoff who was a student, a dear friend of the Folk School, and a member of its board of directors. In a New York Times article, David wrote about the school, “The week I spent there is as close as it gets to my idea of paradise.” The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals for a weekend or weeklong class.

A floral punched needle rug hooking design

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship

Tuition, housing, and meals scholarship for a weekend class for black, indigenous, and artists of color.

Holiday in the Mountains Week

Donna Brown Scholarship

This scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend class for someone who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Playing music and singing songs on the porch

Eleanor Cale Demarest Scholarship

Created by her children in loving memory of Eleanor Cale Demarest, this scholarship recognizes the positive and formative experience she had as a teenager at the school in 1938. This scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend class.

Torching an enameled leaf

Foundrae-Broken English Enameling Scholarship

Upon taking a weekend enameling class at the Folk School, Beth Bugdaycay, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Foundrae, and Laura Freedman, Founder of Broken English, were moved to donate 10 tuition scholarships for week-long enameling classes to promote this craft to others who may otherwise be unable to attend.

Carving a face

Helen Gibson Woodcarving Scholarship

This scholarship donated by Jean Fliess honors Helen Gibson, a talented Brasstown Carver and long-time Folk School Resident Artist. The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend woodcarving class.

JCCFS Campus, July 10–16, 2022, Dance Musicians' Week

Janet Davis Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship

This scholarship covering tuition, housing, and meals was donated to help an under-represented student with financial need attend a weeklong class. The scholarship was given in support of the Folk School’s efforts to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.

Woodcarving

Jim and Janet Davis Woodcarving Scholarships

Created by Janet Davis in loving memory of her husband, Jim, to commemorate his passion for woodcarving and to foster others in the craft, these scholarships cover the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend woodcarving class.

Carving a woodspirit walking stick

Jim Davis Woodcarving Scholarship

These woodcarving scholarships honor the memory of Jim Davis, who was a long-time supporter of the Folk School and a passionate woodcarver. They covers the cost of tuition, housing and meals to attend a weekend or weeklong woodcarving class.

Constructing a windsor rocking chair

Jim Davis Woodworking Scholarship

This woodworking scholarship honors the memory of Jim Davis, who was a long-time supporter of the Folk School and a passionate woodworker. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a week-long woodworking class.

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John Neil Davidson Scholarship

Created in memory of John Neil Davidson, the son of former Folk School Executive Director Jan Davidson and former Cooking Resident Artist Nanette Davidson, this scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend class.

Holiday in the Mountains Week

Joshua Shane Snyder Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship was donated by family and friends in loving memory of Joshua Shane Snyder and covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend class for someone who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Fiber Arts Spinning outside

Judith MacKenzie Fiber Arts Scholarship

With this scholarship, Katherine Montgomery honors instructor Judith MacKenzie, who not only loves the Folk School but inspires and encourages her students to reach for new heights. This scholarship covers tuition, housing, and meals for a student in need of financial assistance in order to attend a weaving, spinning, or basketry class.

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Karen Redfern Woodturning Scholarship

This scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weekend woodturning class.

A finished pine needle basket

Kathryn Byrd Memorial Scholarship

Kathryn Byrd generously provided for the Folk School’s future in her will and, in her memory, this scholarship provides people who would otherwise be unable to attend the opportunity to experience all that she loved about the school. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a week or weekend class.

Weaving a Scarf

Margaret C. Toth Memorial Weaving Scholarship

This weaving scholarship honors the memory of the late Margaret C. Toth, an avid weaver who first learned to weave at the Folk School. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals for a weekend or weeklong class.

Mary Doorbos Basketry Scholarship

Mary Doornbos Basketry & Brooms Scholarship

This scholarship honors talented basket artist Mary Doornbos, recognizing her long-standing connection with the Folk School as its Craft Shop Manager, an instructor, student, and donor. This scholarship for a weekend basketry or brooms class covers tuition, housing and meals for a student in need of financial assistance in order to attend.

Viking Style Ironwork

Ray and Linda Barron Blacksmithing Scholarships

In support of the craft of blacksmithing and to provide educational opportunities to others, the Barrons have donated two scholarships covering the cost of tuition, housing, and meals during a weeklong or weekend blacksmithing class.

Students studying a branch of leaves

Rob Bixler/Wren Smith Interpretive Naturalist Scholarship

This scholarship benefits professional interpretive naturalists and environmental educators working at local/community nature centers in the US. It covers tuition, housing, and meals for any weeklong class.

Hammering a copper piece

Robert J. Trout Metalsmith Scholarship

Robert Trout, a talented metalsmith and long-time Folk School instructor, created this scholarship to give others the opportunity to learn metalsmithing at the Folk School. Following his death in 2020, his family and other loved ones contributed in his memory to bring the scholarship fund to fruition. This scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong or weekend blacksmithing, coppersmithing, or tinsmithing class.

Making an Appalachian Broom

Rude Osolnik’s Kentucky/Berea Co-Op Scholarship

Created by master woodturner and generous friend of the Folk School, Rude Osolnik, this scholarship is available to residents of Kentucky and/or students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Berea College. It covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals for any weeklong or weekend class.

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The Artz Family Trust Metals Scholarship

This scholarship covers the cost of tuition, housing, and meals to attend a weeklong metals class for someone who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Turning a wood bowl

Willard Baxter Woodturning Scholarship

This scholarship was created by friends of Willard Baxter, a former Resident Artist and long-time instructor at the Folk School, to honor his memory and to promote the woodturning craft he loved. It covers tuition, housing, and meals for any weeklong class.

Dancers during Winter Dance Week

Winter Dance & Music Week Work Exchange

Each year the Folk School awards 6 work exchange scholarships for Winter Dance Week to those who would not otherwise be able to attend due to financial limitations. The work exchange program allows students the opportunity to work in exchange for a tuition waiver.

Locate & Contact

Please contact Marketing & Communications for more information.

The John C. Campbell Folk School

Development Office

Barbie White: Development Manager

1.800.FOLK.SCH (365-5724)

Mailing Address
One Folk School Road
Brasstown, NC 28902

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