Friday & Saturday, August 22nd and 23rd, NYS Folklorist Ellen Hale and Museum Director Marlene Brown presented another exciting cultural event at The Children's Museum, sponsored by NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts). Over the past several years, the Children’s Museum has highlighted a variety of regional cultural groups, demonstrating our rich diversity. The 2008 Family Folk Arts Festival highlighted four groups currently found in central New York and the Mohawk Valley: artistic traditions of the Oneida, Onondaga & Mohawk nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), folk art music of the Italian community, and traditions of Utica’s most recent communities: the Karen and Arakanese of Myomar (formerly Burma), and Bosnians from Eastern Europe.
 Four year old Samuel Butcher watching Alf Jacques carving lacrosse sticks |
 then getting a lesson in lacrosse playing! |
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 Learning about No-Face dolls & making a dream catcher |
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 Tony Diana playing traditional Italian music on the mandolin |
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 The Arkanese Dancers (from Burma) performing their traditional Candlelight Dance |
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 The artsts & audience on the museum's second floor |
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 Demonstrating Karen of Burma beautiful intricate weaving |
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 Karen of Burma Don Dancers & musicians perform |
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 CM Director Brown w/Burmese interpretor |
 NYS Folklorist Ellen McHale records the presentations |
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 Mirza Tihic, performing on the saz, a Bosnian instrument |
 Hava Tihic demonstrating Bosnian needlework |
Friday, August 22 - Friday's
Festival, 12:00noon to 3:00pm -
Alf Jacques, a member of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga, learned the
art of lacrosse stick making from his father, Lou Jacques. To craft a
stick, a hickory log is split into 8-12 pieces lengthwise and then is shaped,
dried, steamed, and dried again over a period of more than a year. The basket
is made from rawhide and leather. Besides crafting lacrosse stick, Mr. Jacques
also coaches a lacrosse team.
Monica Antone-Watson, a member of the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk nation,
is a maker of No-Face dolls, which are developed from the original
Haudenosaunee cornhusk doll which had no face and which represents the Corn
Spirit. Born on the Oneida Reservation in Southwold, Canada, Monica Antone-Watson
learned her doll making from her grandmother, Betsy Chrisjohn, when she was
about 5-6 years old. Monica Antone-Watson is active as a demonstrator at Oneida
Nation festivals.
Brenda Bush is a member of the Oneida nation, Wolf Clan. While she
is also a maker of cornhusk dolls, she will be demonstrating the making
of dream-catchers. According to Native Americans, dreams that humans
have while sleeping are sent by sacred spirits as messages. According to their
Legend, in the center of the Dream Catcher there is a hole. Good dreams are
permitted to reach the sleeper through this hole in the web. The web traps
the bad dreams and they disappear at dawn with the first light.
Saturday, August 23 - - Friday's Festival, 11:00am
to 3:00pm
11:00 a.m. - Tony Diana, performing Italian music on the mandolin,
is an active member of Utica’s Italian American community. He has been
playing the mandolin for about six years.
11:30 a.m. - Ah Mu, Karen of Burma weaver, has recently
arrived in Utica. Using backstrap looms, weavers in the Karen community performed
the “Candlelight” dance. Arakan is bordered by India and Bangladesh
and was an independent nation until 1784 when it was annexed by Burma, now
Myanmar. The Arakanese are one of eight distinctive ethnic groups currently
under the control of Myanmar.
1:00 p.m. - The Karen is another distinctive group which
came to Utica from Myanmar. Arriving first in 1999, they are now the largest
recently resettled refugee group in the city of Utica. They are joined today
by traditional musicians. The folk music of the Karen has melodies and storytelling
which reflect life in the thick tropical jungles of the region. Instruments
include the Cweh, a reeded horn made from bamboo or buffalo horn, the occasional
one-string violin, and the mouth harp or Ta Ki. The intricately choreographed
dance of men and women, called Doan or Don, can last up to twenty minutes.
1:30 p.m. - Hava Tihic, Bosnian needleworker, has
done needlework since the 1970s, predominantly for home decoration and traditional
gifts. The specialized form of crochet made in a single slip stitch results
in an extremely dense fabric, which is a similar appearance to woven braid,
but remarkably elastic.
2:00 p.m. - Mirza Tihic, performing on the saz,
has been a musician since childhood. He began playing the saz in 2003. The
saz is a long-necked stringed instrument of the lute family which often accompanies
singing. The instrument has its origin in Turkey, reflecting the influence
that Turkey has had on Bosnia.
Reduced General Admission both days of $7.00 per person (Members & children under 2 free). Download brochure. Visitors will be able to actively participate.
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 The Children's Museum thanks NYSCA, the New York State Council on the Arts, for sponsoring our Folk Art Festival |
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Friday & Saturday, July 20th & 21st, Folklorist Felicia McMahon and the Children's Museum Executive Director Marlene Brown present another exciting cultural event at The Children's Museum. Sponsored by NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), the FolkArt Family Festival provides an opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of local traditions. This two day event features demonstrations representing different cultures, which help make up our richly diverse community. Following is the schedule: Friday: 12:30noon to 3:30pm - Native American cultures, with Vicky Shenandoah (Oneida) shell & leather jewelry demonstration; Jerry Shenandoah (Oneida) traditional leather clothing demonstration; Danielle Shenandoah & daughter Jolene demonstrating Oneida beadwork and cornhusk dolls; Annie Green (Algonquin) traditional glass bead frames/purses demonstration; Larry Jones (Onondaga) carving wooden walking sticks; Ada Jacques (Onondaga) Iroquois pottery demonstration; Alf Jacques (Onondaga) lacrosse stickmaking demonstration . Saturday: 10:30am to 3:30pm - Ukrainian, Irish, Latino and Native American folk arts. Artists include: Randy Shenandoah (Oneida) moccasin-making demonstration; MJ Shenandoah (Oneida) cornhusk dollmaking; Maria Bero (Mohawk) featherwork; Anna Seminiak (Ukrainian) needlework; Mary Kuchera (Ukrainian) "pysanky" wax egg decorating; Lorenza Lloyd, Lorenza Soto, Martina Parra and Pablo Bailon (Latino) crocheting and sewing. 1:00 to 3:00pm - There will be music and dance performed by members of the Mohawk Valley Latino Association - Ritmo Caribeano ("Caribbean Rhythm") youth and adult dance group, plus Latino music and folk songs by Nelson Santiago and his group (Hector Raimirez, Sonia Canardia, Michael Santiago), Also performing are Utica area's Irish musicians & dancers ( fiddlers, bagpipes, Irish drums, dance jigs, etc.) 6 wonderful fiddlers. Through this annual program, the Children's Museum seeks to bridge the cultural divide that separates neighbors from our oldest and newest communities in our region.
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Friday & Saturday, July 14th & 15th, 2006, Folklorist Felicia McMahon once again worked with Children's Museum Executive Director Marlene Brown to line up another exciting cultural event at The Children's Museum. Sponsored by NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), the FolkArt Family Festival provided an opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of local traditions. This two day event featured demonstrations representing 5 different cultures, which help make up our richly diverse community. Following is the schedule: Friday: 12:00noon to 3:30pm - Native American cornhusk doll making by Brenda Bush; Native American beaded jewelry by Melissa McCann; Rural turkey calls by Gary Campanie, local hunter; German zither music by Klaus Raith; German-American dances by Grace Schell; Urkainian psyanky (egg decorating) by Mary Kuchera. Saturday: 10:30am to 3:30pm - Native American dancers/drum & rattle making by John Webster; Native American wampum belt-making by Judy Chrisjohn; Bosnian music and needlework by the Bajric family; performances by the "Kud Bosanska Mladest" Bosnian dancers; and the Karen Dancers from Burma. Through this annual program, the Children's Museum seeks to bridge the cultural divide that separates neighbors from our oldest and newest communities in our region. Download flyer. Download brochure.
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The Children's Museum thanks NYSCA, the New York State Council on the Arts, for sponsoring our Folk Art Festival |
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THE 2005 FOLK ART FESTIVAL: Saturday, April 23, 2005, Folklorist Felicia McMahon lined up an exciting cultural event at The Children's Museum. Sponsored by NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), the FolkArt Family Festival provided an opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of local traditions. Demonstrations representing 3 cultures: Native Americans, Polish Americans, and Bosnians, were on-going throughout the day, including no-face doll making, palm weaving, needlework/crocheting. At 11am, the MAH Band performed Bosnian folk music, representing Utica's newer immigrants. At 1pm the Little Poland Dance Ensemble performed traditional Polish dances, representing one of our older communities. At 2pm, the Oneida Nation Social Dancers performed, representing the first settlers in our area. Through this annual program, the Children's Museum seeks to bridge the cultural divide that separates neighbors from our oldest and newest communities. FolkArt Festival Info * Pix * Brochure * Press Release
To pictures * To top * To text * To previous festivals
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