“Give a gift of Creativity this year”

    

     The Villages Folk School encourages you to give your friends and family a “gift certificate” that can be used for any of our folk school classes. Go to our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com for a complete listing of our 2011 classes. The class descriptions and artist bios are also provided for you. The holiday season is here and with our busy schedules we often find it difficult to include everything we would like to accomplish. We have just two classes left in our 2010 schedule and they are Hand Piecing, Appliqué & Quilting, Dec 11-12 and Container Candles, Dec 18, both taught by Joy Hanson. Joy can teach you how to make those beautiful quilts you see or, if you want something not quite so time consuming, your favorite hot chocolate mug filled with a candle that looks and smells like the real thing. Either of these classes would be a great gift this Christmas and would give you a handmade present for that special person in your life.

     Gift certificates are available through our folk school office. We can be reached by telephone at 319-592-3700 or email us a villagesfolkschool@gmail.com. Call us soon to allow time for the gift certificates to arrive in your home prior to Christmas day.

     The first year at the Villages Folk School has been a great one! We now have 28 artist instructors offering 51 different classes and have seen over 100 students from all around Iowa and from several surrounding states. All of this has added to our counties economy as these students come for the weekend and spend their money for food, lodging and gas. Our goal for sustainability is on track and as we offer more diversity in our class subjects we are forever aware of the need to promote the lifestyle in Van Buren County while at the same time striving to preserve our unique quality of life.

     The continued growth of the folk school relies on class enrollment, recruitment of artist instructors and, above all, the cooperative effort of all of us in the county. Our immediate goals for steady growth are being achieved and we are pleased with that, but our long range plans to bring the creative arts to the forefront in Van Buren County are still a slow process. We are in agreement with studies across the country linking the creative arts with scholastic achievement. Programs offering all of the arts to the students have seen dramatic improvement in aptitude testing on a national level. As a county I would like to see us join together to give more support to our students and our schools. When I was in my high school years there were parents actively supporting their students by coming together and forming what was called the “Band Boosters”. It was groups like this that raised money to purchase uniforms so that there was pride in belonging to the band. Bands as well as choirs all around the county would come together once a year for mass concerts. It is this kind of enthusiasm that we should be seeing in our programs for the kids. It is not always about money, but getting excited and showing the youth that we care about their futures may be a great start towards bringing all of us together to support the arts in our schools and our county. It starts with each of us and becomes the inspiration for all of us.

     Find a teacher or a school administrator this holiday season and tell them how much you appreciate them. The Villages Folk School is proud of our gifted artist instructors and hope to provide a consistant working environment for them as they “live the arts” here in Van Buren County.

     Your sponsorship help as a “Friend of the Villages Folk School” is always appreciated and we encourage each of you to think of our school as we prepare to meet the New Year. Our website at www.villagesfolkschool.com has a list of the sponsorship levels by which you may participate. No matter what your gift, it provides the needed funds to move us forward toward our goals. Call us today at 319-592-3700 and join with us as we seek to expand the arts and creativity in Van Buren County, Iowa.