New York Folklore Society

NY Folklore Society Graduate Student Conference

August 15, 2011 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with Binghamton University’s English Department, NYFS invites graduate students to present their work on legends and tales. In this way, students will be given a platform at a local conference to share their work and connect with other young academics from around the state. The NYFS seeks to encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. This conference presents students with the opportunity for feedback on works-in-progress and mentorship from the academy.

Theme: Legends and Tales

Legends and tales present characters under duress in extraordinary circumstances. They preserve cultural patterns and facilitate social change. Legends such as “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” and “The Killer in the Back Seat” have a kernel of truth; tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Armless Maiden” are clearly fictional but have complex layers of meaning. When legends and tales inspire literature and films, they bring richly resonant traditions to the minds of readers and viewers.

This multidisciplinary conference welcomes papers about legends and/or tales from graduate students in literature, folklore, anthropology, American studies, cultural studies, film studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, social and cultural history, and other fields. The conference organizers especially encourage papers related to the cultural traditions of New York State.

The NY Folklore Society Graduate Student Conference will be held November 12, 2010

at Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY.

Students are encouraged to submit proposals by August 15; the final deadline for submission is September 15.

More information can be found online.

New York Folklore Society Latino Artists’ Gathering

February 24, 2011 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Folklore Society, in collaboration with Go Art!, will hold its second Latino Artists’ Gathering on March 19, 2011 At the Homestead Event Center, Batavia City Center, Batavia, New York.

Supported by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, the gatherings provide an opportunity for Latino artists residing in non-metropolitan New York State to come together to discuss issues and solve common problems. March’s theme will be “Challenges and Opportunities for Traditional Artists in Rural New York”, and we will hear of some of the current initiatives being tried to link artists across distances.

CFP: Latino Folk Culture, Expressive Traditions

October 23, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Folklore Society has announced a Graduate Student Conference on Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions to be held on November 20, 2010 at New York University, 20 Cooper Square, 4th Floor, NYC.

For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with NYU’s Latino Studies and Latin American Studies Departments, NYFS seeks to encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. [Read more…] about CFP: Latino Folk Culture, Expressive Traditions

CFP: Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions

June 21, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In this way, students will be given a platform at a local conference to share their work and connect with other young academics from around the state. The NYFS seeks to
encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. [Read more…] about CFP: Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions

Folklore Society Sponsoring Events for Latino Artists

May 14, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Folklore Society will be sponsoring three gatherings for Latino artists in New York State. Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the gatherings will take place on three locations on three separate dates over this fall and next spring.

Designed for musicians, dancers, craftspersons, and others who are practicing a traditional artform with its origin in any of the Spanish-speaking communities of North and South America, the gatherings will assist artists in sharing resources and experiences. They will provide an opportunity for future collaborations and technical assistance. For additional information, or to find out how to become a “delegate” for the gatherings, contact Lisa Overholser at the New York Folklore Society.

The gatherings will be held as follows:

October 24, 2010 at Long Island Traditins, Port Washington
March 19, 2011 at Go Art!, Batavia
May 14, 2011 at Centro Civico, Amsterdam

New York Folklore Society Issues State Budget Action Alert

May 6, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

“Your assistance is needed now!” declares an Action Alert e-mail issued by the New York Folklore Society late last week in response to Governor Paterson’s revised Executive Budget which proposes to further slash funding for the arts in New York State. The full text of the Folklore Society’s message follows:

On April 27, 2010, Governor David Paterson announced a revised Executive Budget proposal for the 2010-11 fiscal year. This new proposal recommends a total of $25.2 million for NYSCA’s Local Assistance (grant making) budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and the same amount for the following 2011-12 allocation.

This most recent proposal represents a nearly 40% [39.4%] decrease in Local Assistance funding from 2009-10 levels ($41.6 million), far exceeding the cuts proposed for most other New York State agencies.

In his revised Executive Budget, Governor Paterson has also proposed reducing NYSCA’s administrative budget to $4.84 million in 2010-11. This represents a nearly 12% [11.84%] decrease from 2009-10 levels ($5.49 million).

The total proposed 2010-11 budget for NYSCA totals $30.4 million. At this level of funding, New York State’s per capita spending on Arts would drop from $2.48 to $0.77. New York’s ranking as the 3rd highest per capita support for the Arts in the US would drop to 26th, ranking just above Arkansas at $0.74 per capita and below the national average of $0.90 per capita. Source: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

The New York Folklore Society is a statewide service organization which works to foster the study, promotion, and continuation of New York’s diverse cultural traditions through education, advocacy, support and outreach. Located at 133 Jay Street, Schenectady, New York and found on the world wide web at www.nyfolklore.org.

NY Folklore – Textured Stories: The Works of Denise Allen

March 19, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Folklore Society will be presenting “Textured Stories: The Works of Denise Allen” at its gallery at 113 Jay Street, Schenectady through March 26th. I asked the Folklore Society to describe Lisa’s work for us and this is what they sent:

She lived for many years in Bedford-Stuyvesant (in Brooklyn), her hometown. Her mother was a seamstress in the sense that she made a lot of the family cloths, etc. Denise, however, was not a trained seamstress. She worked as a legal secretary, and had no intention of becoming an artist. After her mother died, however, she became very depressed. She walked into a Woolworth’s store one day, saw the embroidery kits there, which reminded her of her mother, and felt “called” to take that up to feel a connection with her mother. She has been doing needlework ever since.She does a unique kind of textured embroidery, not only involving needlework, but layering and adding material onto the fabric, such as wood, cardboard, wire, etc. She also creates dolls from the original design to the finishing touches. Her signatures pieces are her story cloths, textured artwork that often tells specific stories from her own life, as well as fictional stories that otherwise capture an expressive truth.

Her work focuses on themes of African-American life, particularly in the colonial period in America, and country living. She addresses themes of slavery, traditional life, life in the country, and so on.

After her son was killed in 9-11 (he worked in Tower 1), and her husband barely escaped (he worked on the 97th floor as a drafter for the Port Authority), she became extremely despondent. Because she had always been fascinated with country life after seeing a county fair event that had come to Brooklyn when she was a little girl, she and her husband decided to move up to upstate NY and live on a farm. She moved up to Palatine Bridge, and has been living there among the Amish for the past several years. She has a wonderful relationship with her neighbors, some of whom contribute wooden frames for her art. She has been working on a 9-11 story cloth, and recently completed it. It is now under consideration to be placed at the 9-11 Museum that is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

Folk Concert to Benefit NY Folklore Society, May 29

May 27, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Witch tales from Otsego County. The famed Binghamton spiedie sandwich. Irish ballads sung in New York City. African-American spoken word genres. North Country quilting. The work rituals of Saratoga racetrack workers. What do all of these have in common? These are a few of the rich and varied traditions of New York State, which the New York Folklore Society has been documenting and helping to preserve since 1944.

To help celebrate sixty-five years of the Society’s work, and to coincide with the release of the latest issue of Voices, the Society’s bi-annual journal, the New York Folklore Society announces “Voices: Roots & Branches of New York Folk Music”, a benefit concert to be held on Friday, May 29, 2009 in Schenectady, New York at 7 p.m.

Featured performers include Joe Bruchac, Abenaki storyteller and flute player and his son Jesse Bruchac; Adirondack singer/songwriter Dan Berggren; multi-instrumentalist John Kirk and Cedar Stanistreet; ballad singer Colleen Cleveland; Sengalese drummer and dancer Fode Sissoko; and performer/interpreters Kim and Reggie Harris. The concert will be held at Proctor’s Theatre, 432 State Street, in Schenectady, NY.

A Reception/Meet the Artists party will precede the concert at 5:30 p.m. in the Robb Alley at Proctors. The concert begins at 7 p.m. (Reception and Concert: $41.50, Concert only: $21.50). All proceeds will benefit the New York Folklore Society, a service organization dedicated to the study, promotion, and continuation of New York’s diverse folklore and folklife. Tickets are available through the New York Folklore Society, at 518-346-7008, or at http://www.proctors.org/events. A portion of the ticket price is tax deductible.