Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Art is hands-on in festival programs
By Ceili Cornelius
Correspondent
The Luthier Program
at Sisters High School is
an offshoot of Sisters Folk
Festival’s Americana Project.
A luthier is a craftsperson
who builds and repairs string
instruments.
It’s become a favorite class
at Sisters High School.
“Building my own guitar
was so memorable. The pro-
cess was so much fun from
start to finish and it was so
rewarding to see the finished
product,” said student guitar
builder Rylee Funk.
In 2005, woods teacher
Tony Cosby wanted to cre-
ate a class where students
would have the opportunity
to build an instrument. After
the first year of the class,
the Americana Project and
Sisters Folk Festival provided
some funding to keep the
class going. The grant and
foundation funding helped
to buy supplies to build the
instruments.
The pre-requisite for the
class is the Woodworking
I class where students first
learn to build an Adirondack
chair. They can then move on
to the next term of the class,
Woodworking II.
In Woodworking II,
students work throughout
the whole trimester con-
structing guitars or ukule-
les. Working with the help
of one of the best luthiers
in the Northwest, Jayson
Bowerman (Breedlove
Guitars), they have been able
to produce 30 guitars per year.
An additional class has
been building ukuleles for
the past 11 years, until the
passing of Bill MacDonald,
who was the primary instruc-
tor on building the ukuleles.
Bill, who was hired by SFF,
and his students also worked
with David Perkins and
Marcy Edwards on building
ukuleles, but with changes in
their lives, the class primarily
builds guitars now.
“There is something about
starting with just a pile of
lumber and then construct-
ing something that plays
music for these students I see
as very transformative. It is
almost like birthing a child
— you work so hard to cre-
ate something beautiful,” said
Cosby.
“I’m so glad that I had the
opportunity to do something
so special that will stay with
me forever,” said Funk.
Adult volunteers come
in and give their time every
PHOTO BY JAY MATHER
day during the class to assist
students with the construc-
tion of their guitars. Those
volunteers include Kerry
Bott, Gabrielle Franke, Bob
Lawton, Jim Naibert, Betsy
Forrest Robb, and Ed Fitz.
At the end of the class
every year, the students hold
a Luthier showcase where
they learn a song together
led by Brad Tisdel, Creative
Director of the Sisters Folk
Festival. It is a place where
the students can show off
their creation of the year to
their classmates and parents.
Some years, a student
creates a guitar for the com-
munity arts fundraiser event,
My Own Two Hands. The
fundraiser is vital to the
continuation of the festival’s
work. The Luthier Program
and Americana Project are
all made possible by com-
munity support of the arts in
education.
“We get to see firsthand
the difference a music, visual
arts, or dance education
opportunity can make in a
child’s life. These opportu-
nities are no longer avail-
able in most public schools,”
said Steven Remington, SFF
development director.
Every year, artists from
around the community
donate items for the auction
fundraiser that is usually a
party event at Ponderosa
Forge. This year, due to
COVID-19 restrictions, the
auction went virtual, where
patrons could bid on the
donated art online. SFF also
put on a livestream concert
event on the Saturday of the
fundraiser weekend featuring
performances from David
Jacobs-Strain and Beth
Wood, and never-before-seen
videos of musicians from the
festival filmed in the past year.
The event proved to be
a success, helping to keep
programs going in the
schools and throughout the
community.