High-Touch, Low-Tech: North House featured in MPR article
The world is becoming increasingly online. So why are more and more people drawn to traditional craft? North House was recently featured in an MPR article on the burgeoning folk school movement and our flourishing community.
In an increasingly digital and isolated world, the folk school movement has tapped into something people crave: coming together to create something real.
When North House was founded in 1997, we published our first catalog of 23 courses—at the time, we had no permanent home and no idea what the school would look like 26 years on.
Today, we have a vibrant community with 300 classes per year, an internship program, Artisan Development Program, and more. The interest in traditional craft is undeniable, and our Framing the Future initiative will make craft available to more folks who want to learn.
During the last week of the Framing the Future timber framing project, MPR visited campus to learn more about North House and the growing folk school movement.
“One of the things we’ve often said is, you know, the world is high-tech, low-touch,” said Director Greg Wright in the article. “We’re the counter-balance to that. High-touch, low tech. Not that we don’t use technology or tools. It’s about connecting the past and the present and the future.”
North House was featured alongside our friends at the Duluth Folk School and Ely Folk School. You can read the full MPR article here.
Photo by Ben Finley