Folk School Instructors
Starting in 2023, Groundwork has offered a growing selection of classes on traditional, non-industrial skills, including willow basketry, fiber arts, wild clay pottery, natural dye, and natural hide tanning. We’ve seen a huge demand for hands-on classes that connect people with traditional crafts and more localized ways of living. We are excited that you are interested in teaching a workshop with the Groundwork Folk School.
This folk school operates as a cooperative of teachers. The goal is to reduce the burden on individual craftspeople and to make it possible for people to teach without creating their own business structures. Funds for advertising, securing venues, insurance, and managing enrollment are included in class tuition so that individual teachers can focus on teaching. When we pool resources in this way, it reduces costs for everybody involved. We see that everybody can benefit when working together to offer classes to the general public.
Groundwork is an organization run by craftspeople. We do other education work as well, but it’s worth saying that Jeff, our founder and executive director, taught the majority of our folk school classes from 2023 to 2025. The folk school is meant to be a place for craftspeople to come together and share their skills without needing to engage in hyper-individualistic social media marketing that has become common for many artists.
Job Details:
Location: Intermountain West, including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. We are primarily focused on Colorado and Wyoming at this point. Teachers offering longer classes may be included in larger gatherings in Colorado and Groundwork can offer some travel stipends for those events.
Job Type: Instructing for the Groundwork Folk School is a class-by-class gig, with instructors usually teaching a maximum of 2 classes per month.
Compensation: $300 per day plus a 50% profit share for classes that bring in more that our budgeted expenditures. Teachers often receive up to $450 per day after the profit share. We also reimburse teachers for materials. A travel stipend is available for classes where teachers travel more than 50 miles from home.
Experience Desired: Expertise in crafts and skills that utilize local materials — teachers should be able to produce their crafts at a professional level. General experience teaching and working with the general public. Experience teaching your specific skills and crafts are a plus, but we are willing to work with people who are new to teaching their craft.
Reports to: Folk School Director (Currently, this is also the executive director)
Position Summary: Groundwork Folk School instructors teach half-day, one-day, and multi-day classes. You will work with the Executive Director to schedule classes, and it will be your responsibility to plan your curriculum, prepare materials, and teach the class, ensuring that students finish the class having achieved the learning goals.
To Apply:
Send a PDF résumé, cover letter, and sample images of your work to info@layinggroundwork.org. Our folk school is growing, and we are seeking new teachers on a rolling basis.