Building community by providing learning experiences that celebrate the wilderness heritage, art, history, culture, and craft of the people of northern Minnesota.
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak on a two-person panel hosted by the Department of Public Transformation entitled Activate Rural: Building Vibrant Futures through Creative Places. It was an honor to be asked to speak and recognized for the work that the Ely Folk School has done in the last five years. Itโs also an exciting moment for Ely - to be recognized as a rural place with creative energy, creative drive, and an abundant creative future. The workshop was design
The Ely Folk School builds programming that encourages growth of creativity, strengthened resilience to trying new things, and opportunity for connection to place, self, others, and material. EFS is proud to be part of an ecosystem building a world where everyone recognizes the value of identifying as a lifelong learner. Most of our programs focus on adults, since today's world demands that we adults be quite intentional about including learning in our schedules and budgets.
The Ely Folk School held it's very first classes on June 7, 2015 - Songwriting with Joey Kenig and Flatwater Canoeing with Bert and Johnnie Hyde. From a community meeting with an outline of a dream in late November 2014, many dedicated and passionate Elyites spent December 2014 through May 2015 doggedly creating the bones of the Ely Folk School. Today, we hold over 400 programs annually and boast 10 unique program areas. We believe in intergenerational, non-competitive, learn
