Folkmoot finally grows into vision of creating community arts and culture hub

Feb. 12—The Folkmoot Friendship Center is finally standing on its own as a self-sufficient art hub after years of the century-old school building being a drain on the festival's finances.

The old school was deeded to Folkmoot a decade ago to house international performing troupes for the two-week Folkmoot Festival. But the overhead and repairs for the antiquated building soon became a financial burden.

"This is the first time we've actually utilized every piece of space in this building," said Alan Fletcher, president of the Folkmoot board of directors. "This building is self-sustainable and that's the first time that's happened. And that's down to the energy of these people coming in here, it's down to the community."

The Folkmoot building has now achieved the goal of paying for itself as a self-sustaining apparatus by renting the old classrooms to artists, nonprofits and entrepreneurs.

"The people who work in here and rent studio space from us, they're artisans, they're entrepreneurs and they fit the vision of Folkmoot USA," Fletcher said. "That's folk art, folk performance, folklore — folk in its widest sense."

In recent years, the two-week Folkmoot festival dwindled to 10 days, then a week, then four days — and just one day last year. That's due both to the rising cost of housing 200 performers from around the globe and slackening ticket sales for the shows.

So along the way, Folkmoot sought to reinvent itself — and part and parcel to that was reinventing how the Folkmoot Friendship Center was used.

The vision was to transform the old school into a year-around center for arts and cultural programs, education, creative entrepreneurship and community development. Now, for the first time, Folkmoot has turned the corner on realizing that vision.

Step inside the new Folkmoot

To showcase the transformation, Folkmoot hosted a Groundhog Day open house on Friday, Feb. 2, where artists opened their studios up for demos and to mingle with the public.

The halls were bustling with artists and visitors — an indication that vitality was returning to the halls of Folkmoot.

Among the crowd were Susan and Terry Clark. The couple has lived up the street from the cultural center for three years and are excited about its revival as a space for community artisans.

"Things seem to be bouncing back. It's good to have local options here with art and classes and music," Terry said. "Those are the cultural things that are important and hold the community together, so we like supporting it."

For visitors like Ann Norris, the open house fixed her curiosity on what laid within the old building — and she wasn't disappointed.

"I've been wanting to see what's going on with Folkmoot, I've never been inside this gorgeous building. I was so glad to have an open house to be invited to," Norris said. "Coming in and seeing all these rooms with all these fabulous things that are available to us. I mean isn't that cool? What a great place to join."

She said she was relieved to know the building was saved and has already pinpointed artists she wants commissioned works from.

"It's a great space with ample room. To be able to come here to do your work and then present it — I don't know anywhere else here in Waynesville they could do that," Norris said.

Not only was the open house enjoyable for guests, but reaffirming to the artists of Folkmoot as well.

"There's been a growth of people and more people coming in. This open house has proven that people really want to come and see what's here," said Danna Bohnhoff, a volunteer with the WNC Quilt Trail project under the Haywood County Arts Council.

Bohnoff loves that the space not only opens its doors to the community, but opens the door for new relationships and opportunities to know people you wouldn't have otherwise.

"It gives the community a chance to volunteer, meet new people and have a place to come and enjoy the arts. Because there's nowhere like this and it's really diverse," Bohnoff said. "It's really great for the community."

The history

While reinventing the wheel of Folkmoot as a year-round entity has been a goal for several years, Folkmoot's new executive director Alicia Blanton is now carrying to the torch for that mission.

Blanton began as a volunteer last summer and quickly fell in love with Folkmoot. While Folkmoot hosts its own year-round programs — including international dinners, live concerts, Appalachian storytellers and special events — leasing rooms to artists and community groups has provided critical revenue.

For the first time, every room in Folkmoot is being leased. And as of March last year, there is heating and AC in every room.

"But it's still a daunting task, supporting a 100-year-old building," Blanton said.

She added that renting the space out for weddings and special events also helps to keep the ball rolling on supporting and fulfilling the building's purpose.

Even before Folkmoot owned the building, it would use the old school to house its visiting performers in the summer.

"Originally Folkmoot used to rent this building, and this is where all the artists would come and stay, they would sleep here and staff would be here 24/7," Fletcher said.

Eventually, the school system didn't want the burden of a school building it didn't need anymore and offered to give it to Folkmoot.

"They bought the building for a dollar, but they couldn't fill it at the time because they didn't have that vision to make it into a community center," Fletcher said. "The festival was still the glue, the preeminent thing of Folkmoot, not necessarily this building."

However, maintaining a century old building was no easy feat. In fact, it almost became Folkmoot's downfall. Without a proper HVAC system and little to no income coming in during the festivals off months, things weren't looking promising for the epicenter's future.

They were ready to throw in the towel when a glimmer of hope lightened up the building's future.

SOAR Academy, an outdoor adventure boarding school tailored for students with attention deficit issues. Students of SOAR alternate between two weeks in a classroom setting and two weeks on outdoor expeditions ranging from the Grand Canyon to the Everglades, with a tuition of $55,000 a year.

The school's $35,000 annual lease would put a stint in the financial troubles Folkmoot's board was facing. Not only this, but the school's sizable contribution to the HVAC system helped Folkmoot's impending race to get a functioning head and air to the vintage building.

Though even with Soar's help, the Folkmoot festival was still wearing thin when it came to financial support.

Decline in ticket sales paired with operational costs, prompted a more lucrative solution — reinventing Folkmoot as a cultural organization that operated all year round.

While there is still work to be done the organization is taking active steps to fulfill this mission.

WATCH ONLINE Step into the Folkmoot Friendship Center to see the bustling creative arts hub that now occupies the century-old school building. See artists in action and hear from Folkmoot board president about the building's transformation. Go to themountaineer.com. {related_content_uuid}e8a93355-a40d-4056-b864-90bb1835e45d{/related_content_uuid}