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The Folk Arts Program at the Arts Council for Wyoming County 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, 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 was established in 1985, one of the first in the State. Dr. Bruce Buckley, a noted scholar and folklorist who had just retired from the folklore program at Cooperstown/SUNY Oneonta, came to Wyoming County and began his second career in public folk arts documentation and programming. His work forms the basis of our archive of traditional arts, which contains interviews and slides of more than 150 artisans in our region. Folklorist Kathy Kimiciek led the program from 1988-1990, and in 1996 Karen Canning became the staff folklorist for the region encompassing Wyoming, Livingston, Genesee and Orleans Counties.

Our program often collaborates with community and regional organizations, including Letchworth State Park with the Learn About Letchworth Series, Silver Lake Institute, various town festivals and, in 2001, with the Girl Scouts of the Genesee Valley in Wyoming County. 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; and quilting, rug hooking, carving, and water witching demonstrations at various festivals. Our program also participates in regional activities with The Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, and the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council. 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 the county, and are currently updating 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 ACWC office by phone, email, mail, or come visit us at 31 South Main St., Perry NY.

Folk Arts Programming in the Genesee Valley Region:
A Short History and Update

Since the creation of the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts in 1984, arts councils and other community organizations in our region have utilized its grants to document and present our traditional artists and art forms. The most extensive of these projects began in 1985 when the Arts Council for Wyoming County (ACWC) received a grant to fund a full time folklorist. Dr. Bruce Buckley, then about to retire as dean of the folklore program at SUNY Oneonta at Cooperstown, accepted the position and spent the next two years conducting fieldwork in Wyoming, Livingston and Genesee counties. Fieldwork is the primary method by which folklorists learn about a community and its traditional arts. As these art forms draw their life and meaning from their communal context, a folklorist must take the time to get to know the region in which he works. A folklorist will research local history through libraries, historical societies, and other such public resources, but will just as importantly spend time attending community events (county fairs, town festivals), contacting village historians and community groups, and interviewing traditional artists. Much like the folk process itself, its documentation and research often involves word-of-mouth referrals, informal work settings, and knowledge gained through community involvement.

Between 1985 and 1987, Dr. Buckley made a general survey of the area, interviewing over 150 traditional artists, musicians, and artisans. Various public programs developed from his work, including exhibitions of decoy carving and rug hooking, and several Folk Arts Festivals which showcased a variety of traditions and crafts. Subsequent grants allowed his successor, Kathryn Kimiecik to continue documentation and programming through 1990. Her work extended into Genesee County and has resulted in continuous appearances by traditional musicians at Batavia’s 4th of July Celebrations since 1989, sponsored by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO ART!). In Livingston county, the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts has presented folk arts events since 1991, with the expertise of ethnomusicologist Jim Kimball. Professor Kimball’s own research in traditional dance and music of western New York have inspired our programs featuring old time square dance, fiddling, local ethnic and traditional music, and Native American music.

In 1996 a new regional folk arts collaboration emerged between the three arts councils serving Genesee, Orleans, Livingston and Wyoming counties. From 1997 through the present, Karen Park Canning has served as the folklorist for the regional program, continuing with public programming and fieldwork. We are always seeking to update our information about traditional arts in the County, and welcome your input. We’ve included a list of different traditions found in our area. Take a look at it, and if you find yourself described there, give us a call!

The Folk Arts Program at the Arts Council for Wyoming County is always interested in finding out who is practicing traditional and ethnic arts in our region. Many times, people are not quite sure what we mean by "folk arts," so we’ve compiled a partial list of different traditional activities and art forms. If you happen to be involved in any of these activities—or if you know of someone who is—give us a call or fill out the information at the bottom and send it to our office. Thanks for your time and interest in our local traditions!