Tradition comes alive in South Berkshire

By Andra Moss

For many, a DIY home improvement project begins with a bit of Googling. If that project involves woodworking, they may well be directed to a series of videos from “The Garage with Steve Butler,” a program about woodworking that, at its peak, was carried on 800 cable access and several PBS channels nationwide. Butler, an artist and trained furniture maker, began filming the homegrown show in 2011 from his garage, first in Uxbridge, Mass., and later in New Marlborough.  

“The Garage” is currently on hiatus (but available via www.thegaragewithstevebutler.com) as Butler turns his attention to another creative endeavor—the launch of the Mill River Folk School.

“It is a natural kind of transition,” says Butler. “I am a woodworker. I went to school at the Sheridan College [Ontario, Canada] art and design program and then got a degree in education.” 

After working in more formal teaching environments, Butler found his true home within non-profit craft institutions such as the Worcester Center for Craft, where he directed the woodworking program. That’s also where he met his wife, the jeweler Liesl Carlson. When the center closed in 2004, the couple moved to New Jersey to join the Peters Valley School of Craft, where they lived in one of the community’s historic buildings. Butler led their woodworking courses. 

The Butlers stayed at Peters Valley for six years, welcoming a son along the way. “He can literally say he was born in an artist community,” says Butler. It was a place where friends regularly gathered after hours around a fire and shared thoughts on art, family and life.  

When national arts funding was slashed in 2010, the Butler family was upended, losing both a job and home. They moved to be close to relatives in Uxbridge and regrouped. It was there that “The Garage with Steve Butler” was born. 

A relocation to the South Berkshires in 2017 inspired a vision for a new project. “We were missing that vibrant community of art and makers,” says Butler. “That was the impetus.”  

He mulled over the idea of a folk school with his friend Andrew Jack, the premiere chair maker based in East Canaan. “Andrew and I would talk, and we wondered why there wasn’t a folk school like Peters Valley here,” Butler recalls. 

“Not a lot of people understand what it is,” he adds. “There is an ethos to a folk school—it’s about the people. It’s an old Scandinavian philosophy that emphasizes a nurturing learning environment.”

But Butler recognized that the key ingredients for a folk school were all around him: “There are talented people to be the instructors and every reason for people to travel to the area. I thought, ‘let’s try and create the community.’”

The Mill River Folk School will launch this spring. First up: Fly-Tying Boot Camp on May 3 with renowned fly tyer and skilled artisan, Larry Antonuk.  He will also teach small broom construction later in the summer.

Other workshops include Kathryn Swanson, on rug braiding, and Kokoro Bensonoff on chair-seat weaving using hand-twisted cattail leaves. Theater artist, puppeteer and carver David Lane will introduce makers to traditional flat-plane wood carving.

Butler and Jack will team up for a two-day June workshop on constructing a classic Sussex-style trug. Participants will experience cleaving and shaving strips of wood using traditional tools and techniques. Jack will also guide learners through the process of crafting a log carrier out of riven (split) green wood in September. 

Monterrey’s Bidwell House Museum has joined in and will host Jennifer Lee in June for a course on constructing indigenous bark baskets.

A full list of traditional craft offerings can be found online at millriverfolkschool.org. Most workshops will be held in the Ladies Aid Hall of the Southfield Church, located on Norfolk Road in Southfield. 

Butler sees the folk school model as a natural fit for this area: “It offers an open door to all. It is about preserving hands-on skills that strengthen and enhance our community.”  

Jack is in full agreement, noting that “This area seems ripe for a craft school, with the mix of local beauty and skills. Steve has the vision and the experience to get exactly this kind of thing off the ground, and I’m excited to see what it can be.”

“It’s been a lot of work,” Butler admits, “but this just feels right.”