June 2010 Gourd Banjo Making Workshop in Shelter Island, New York

This one week intensive class will walk you step by step through the
process of making a gourd. These classes fill fast
and often by repeat students.. We have a lot of fun in this classes and
get very engaged in the detailed processes that come together to produce
very refined and functional banjos. Each step is demonstrated in great
detail starting with rough neck blanks and concluding in a very thorough
over view of set up work. I provide all materials to make your
instrument.

The gourd banjo is a modern relative of the banjo's African ancestor, the Akonting. Many gourd/calabash based lute instruments are still played throughout Africa today.

As a sculptor my approach to the banjo is as much about form as it is function. Quite often my instruments are consumed with form and no longer function in a "traditional" sense. The process of making a gourd banjo is very organic and creative with few limitations. The neck is a reaction to the gourd. Gourd banjo making has run at a parallel to my sculptural practice and now they cross paths. I make many types of instruments but the gourd banjo is held high on the list of objects I enjoy making.

If you have an interest in the roots of folk music and material culture then this class is for you!

Sylvester Manor- an educational farm on Shelter Island, NY. Course runs June 7th -12th. Please contact myself or the co ordinator Bennett Konesni @ konesni@gmail.com

The Place: Sylvester Manor is a 243-acre educational farm on Shelter Island, New York, 2.5 hours east of
Manhattan. A former slave plantation, the property has also been a Native
American hunting and fishing grounds, a bustling 18^th century farm, and the
estate of a famous food chemist. Today the farm, reborn in 2009, hosts
educational workshops, concerts, and events, all of which explore the
culture of food and place.