Class Description: Using natural materials, you will learn how to bind broomcorn to a sapling handle using a traditional American-style weave. The binding string is held under pressure with your feet, leaving both hands free to create a wide variety of broom styles. Each student will hand craft a cobweb broom and one or more hand brooms. This class is open to beginning broom weavers and returning students. Please Note: this class ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Born in the west central mountains of Virginia, where he still resides, Gary Robinson learned the art of broom making in 1991 and has been making brooms full time since then. Gary’s brooms appeared in the historical drama Sommersby starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster and have been purchased by George Washington’s Mount Vernon for use in their portrayal of colonial life. Over the years, demonstrating and teaching his craft has been one of the most fulfilling parts of his journey.

Gary has been a juried Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair since 1991. He is a Waterford Landmark Artisan, exemplifying excellence in craft and education, and for his commitment to the Waterford Foundation's preservation mission. We recorded a conversation with Gary after his 2021 class, which is on our YouTube channel.

Class Description: Let the wood guide you! In this class, you’ll learn basic greenwood spoon carving techniques, including selecting the best trees for carving, breaking-down logs into usable spoon blanks, and practicing the basic axe and knife skills needed for safe and efficient carving. Using only three tools (axe, straight knife, and hook knife), you'll begin carving your own wooden spoon; leaving with a few blisters on your hands, an appreciation for the therapeutic nature and addictive qualities of spoon carving, and the basic technique, confidence, and reference material needed to continue carving on your own. The small group format allows for safe and individualized instruction. The tuition fee includes materials: greenwood spoon blanks for carving, a dedicated (physically distanced) workstation, use of carving tools, course materials, personalized instruction, coaching, and encouragement. Please Note: an optional $80 take-home tool kit may be purchased in advance when you register. To order the take-home tool kit, you must register for the class before May 1st.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: For the past ten years, Ian Hart has been interested in researching, understanding, and reproducing traditional wood and metal work, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. During his senior year in college at the American College of the Building Arts, he assisted in the instruction of the freshman class in traditional metalwork. He spent several summers working at folk schools (Adirondack Folk School, Tillers International, and Touchstone); a portion of that time was spent teaching classes, which ranged from ornamental ironwork, spoon and bowl carving, and carved furniture. He was a Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair (2021, 2022).

Class Description: Learn how to make your own salves and balms using methods that are historically accurate to early Virginia, including the use of plants native to the area. Weather permitting, students will go outside to learn how to identify and forage for wild plants that may be incorporated into your projects. Learn how to complete your class projects with packaging and labeling.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Maureen Anderson's home farm is a family-owned and operated venture of love and commitment to reviving the lost arts. They strive to farm in a sustainable manner and are committed to utilizing time-honored “old fashioned” methods as well. These methods both enhance the lives of their animals and maintain a connection to the earth. By offering and promoting products and educational ventures nationwide, they support and encouraging other small farms. They believe that small farms are the backbone of our culture and our country, producing healthier food, creating superior products, and fostering healthy economies and communities.

Class Description: Use your creativity to make a beautiful basic chain link necklace using sterling silver wire, beads, and other embellishments. You’ll learn how to make simple loops and wrapped loops that you will use to connect the beads in your necklace. You’ll learn how to arrange the beads to create a beautiful design using a bead board, and make a simple clasp. The instructor will provide sterling sliver wire. If time allows, you may also make a pair of earrings. Please bring the following tools, which can be purchased at Joann’s, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Walmart: round-nose pliers, chain-nose pliers, and flush cutters. The instructor will bring bead boards for your use during class. Bring your creativity to this fun class and leave with beautiful, wearable art! Please Note: the materials fee is not included in the tution fee. Depending on your bead selections, there will be an additional $25 - $35 materials fee due to the instructor in class.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Candace Stribling began her love of jewelry-making after purchasing a kit at Michaels. She fell in love with the technical skills required in jewelry-making, and for the opportunity it provides for her to explore her creativity. She also fell in love with beads, especially beads from Africa, India, and other countries.

Candace took her first metalsmithing class at Glen Echo, and has since taken courses at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center in Frederick, MD and at JewelryClassDC in Washington, DC. She finds she can best express her creative abilities by forming and shaping metal. All of her pieces start as sheet or wire and end up as a piece of one-of-kind jewelry using soldering, forming, hammering, and setting stones. Candace is a Waterford Landmark Artisan, exemplifying excellence in craftsmanship and education during the Waterford Fair, and for her commitment to the Waterford Foundation.

Class Description: Using a chair you bring from home, you will learn how to replace the seat with splint. The history, origin, and preservation of this woven seat style will also be discussed. If you aren’t sure if your chair is suitable for the class (click here to see an example of a suitable chair frame), please email an image to us in advance to ensure that you have what you need to successfully complete the project. Please Note: you will need to bring the following supplies to class: a standard stapler, a bucket or pan that will hold a gallon of water, a spray bottle (for water), an old towel, hand snips, pruners or sturdy scissors (to cut the reed), needle nose pliers, a utility knife, two 2-inch spring clamps, a pencil or pen, a butter knife (a thin blade is optimal), and your chair.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Pamela Foster has been weaving for over 40 years. She specializes in wicker restoration, but weaves all types of chair seats, including splint, cane, rush, bamboo, rattan, willow, and grasses. She has woven seats for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and restored a wicker sled for the Loudoun Museum. She has been reproducing Gustav Stickley wicker lampshades for over 25 years, which are sold nationwide. She has been teaching for the Waterford Craft School since its inception in 2016.

You can learn more about Pamela in this YouTube video short, which captures a conversation we had with her in her cozy, mountaintop studio in 2021.

Class Description: Learn how to carve the surface of a wooden blank to create a cutting board that is both useful and decorative. Students will choose from a selection of 17th c. patterns and learn how to transcribe and carve them using gouges and chisels. Some basic woodworking and hand tool experience is recommended, but not required. Discussion topics will include how and why furniture developed and changed over time. Please Note: this class requires a specific set of tools that are not included in the tuition fee. You can purchase the $191 take-home tool kit when you register. OR, you may bring your own tools from home to reduce the tool kit fee, but they must be identical to those on the Tool List in order to successfully complete the project. If you have some tools at home, but not all, you will be able to select the individual tools that you need to purchase when you register. If you are planning to bring tools from home, please print the attachment to make sure your tools match those on the list prior to registering. The instructor will be purchasing the tools in advance of class and there will not be any extras available if you do not purchase the kit or bring the identical tools from home. 

Please Also Note: this class ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: For the past ten years, Ian Hart has been interested in researching, understanding, and reproducing traditional wood and metal work, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. During his senior year in college at the American College of the Building Arts, he assisted in the instruction of the freshman class in traditional metalwork. He spent several summers working at folk schools (Adirondack Folk School, Tillers International, and Touchstone); a portion of that time was spent teaching classes, which ranged from ornamental ironwork, spoon and bowl carving, and carved furniture. He was a Demonstrating Artisan at the Waterford Fair (2021, 2022)

Class Description: Do you have a cane chair seat with a hole in it? Learn the craft of hand woven cane to replace the seat of a chair you bring to class. To successfully complete a newly caned seat in two days, the chair you bring to class should have 70 or fewer holes in the wood frame (example of a suitable chair frame). If you have any questions about the suitability of your project, please email us a picture of the chair you would like to work on in advance of the class. Additional Information: If your chair has more than 70 holes, extra cane material may be purchased from the instructor during class so that you can complete your project at home. Please Note: this classes ends at 3 PM on Sunday.

You will need to bring the following supplies to class: a bucket or pan that will hold a gallon of water, a spray bottle for water, an old towel, hand snips or pruners (to clip the cane), an awl if you have one, an old oyster shucker if you have one (don't buy one) or a narrow butter knife, and your chair. The instructor will bring all the other tools and supplies you need to successfully complete the project.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Pamela Foster has been weaving for over 40 years. She specializes in wicker restoration, but weaves all types of chair seats, including splint, cane, rush, bamboo, rattan, willow, and grasses. She has woven seats for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and restored a wicker sled for the Loudoun Museum. She has also been reproducing Gustav Stickley wicker lampshades for over 25 years, which are sold nationwide. She has been teaching for the Waterford Craft School since its inception in 2016.

We visited Pamela in her cozy, moutaintop studio in 2021 and recorded our conversation, which you can watch on our YouTube channel.

Class Description: The Shakers began making baskets early in their history to help with everyday farm work. The Shaker Cheese Basket is just what its name implies . . . it was used in the Shaker community in the cheese making process. The large hexagonal weave (triaxial weave) was used for draining the cheese curds. Today, this basket can serve as a beautiful accent piece in your home, as it is so architectural in nature. This 26” cheese basket will be woven of 3/8” flat reed using triaxial weaving, which is composed of three sets of weavers that intersect and interlace with each other at 60 degree angles. The base of the basket is a hexagon with hexagon openings. As the sides are woven it becomes round. Once the spokes are turned down, you will complete the basket with heavy 3/4” half round rims and 3/8” lashing. Please Note: This is an advanced class so you must have weaving experience. This is a challenging basket to make, but certainly one that will add beauty to your home.

Lunch: Lunch is included in the class fee. If you have any dietary restrictions, please note them when you register.

Instructor Bio: Working over wooden molds, in the method of the Shakers, Karen Wychock’s baskets are traditional in shape and materials. She weaves both Shaker reproductions in ash and traditional, utilitarian baskets of reed. Native hardwoods such as ash and oak are used to make the rims and handles, and all of her baskets are lashed using ash. Each basket takes on its own character as it is woven in a quatrefoil. Twill or fancy lace patterns appeal to both eye and touch.

Karen was an art teacher for 22 years in the Neshaminy School District, Langhorne, PA, before becoming a middle school principal for 15 years in both the Neshaminy School District and the Central Bucks School District.

She is a member of the Bucks County Craftsmen’s Guild, the Bucks County Hand Weaver’s Guild and the PA Guild of Craftsmen. She is also president of the Penn-Jersey Basket Weavers Guild. Karen sells her work at various shows and galleries throughout the northeast (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, and Ohio), and has the earned the distinction of Waterford Landmark Artisan for her commitment to the Waterford Fair and the Waterford Foundation. She teaches both children and adults.