Learn to make by hand
In the historic village of Waterford
The Waterford Craft School seeks to preserve traditional methods used in craft and building arts through hands-on immersive instruction. We enable students to learn make-by-hand skills by offering classes to the public taught by experts in each field.
The school is part of the educational mission of the Waterford Foundation and works with the Waterford Fair to provide opportunities for artisans to demonstrate and teach and for students to experience and learn.
Hands-on instruction
Crafts & Building Arts
Ages 18 and up
One and two-day classes
Lunch included
Become an Instructor
Join us as we aim to preserve handmade crafts such as quilting, weaving, pottery, furniture-making, basket weaving, and blacksmithing by educating the next generation of artisans. Classes in building arts are also encouraged, such as traditional construction methods, old and historic building restoration, and adaptive reuse.
Class space provided – Space appropriate for your specific class is provided for you in Waterford.
No administrative tasks – The Waterford Craft School handles all registrations and administrative tasks.
Lunch is provided – The Waterford Craft School provides lunch for students & instructors allowing you to concentrate on teaching.
CLASSES
The following is a selection of past classes. Classes vary each year. The 2019 schedule of classes will be posted Winter 2019.
Splint Seat Weaving
In this one-day class, students will focus on weaving splint seats along with learning the history, origin, and preservation of their woven seats made using this technique.
Hand Woven Cane
In this two-day class, students will learn the history, origin, and preservation of woven seats. They will learn how to prepare the materials to be used and what size cane to use. Then they will learn the six-step standard pattern which is the most widely used and the strongest.
Backyard Medicine
In this two-day class, students will first learn what they might want to grow in their own gardens. And some plants used grow commonly around us and often are known as “weeds”.
Intermediate Rug Hooking
In this two-day class, students will cover the same general information as the beginning class but will concentrate more on hooking and color planning with a more complicated pattern.
Turkish (Ebru) Marbling
In this two-day class, students will explore the preparation of the wide range of colors used in Turkish (ebru) marbling.
Installing a Dry Brick Walk
In this two-day class, students will be introduced to the methods for proper excavation, bed preparation, crowning, placement and finishing.
A Gathering, Shaker Basket Weaving
In this two-day class, students will weave one or two gathering baskets in small, medium, or large. The body will be woven over a wood mold of reed with an oak handle. Lashing will be done with ash.
Repair and Restoration of Old Windows
In this two-day class, students will focus on the repair and restoration of traditional putty glazes window sashes, typically found in houses built prior to 1940.
“This course was exactly what I hope it would be. I learned A LOT.”
“Allen was outstanding – clear, knowledgeable, understandable, interesting.”
“Wonderful course content. Gave us all hope that we will be able to repair our windows.”
“It was exactly what I hoped to learn – and I am now not at all dissuaded to tackle my own windows.”
“Karen Wychock was friendly, helpful, skilled basket maker. I liked the small class with personal attention.”
“Great lunch both days. Facility was clean and open. A lot of room.”
Become a Member
Foundation members receive a $25 discount on a class.
