Every year during the week of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Western Folklife Center organizes more than a dozen workshops on a variety of topics including but not limited to: traditional arts, cooking, gear making, contemporary ranch issues, writing, poetry, and music, to provide a richer and deeper experience for those that make the trip to Elko. Its an excellent opportunity to be taught new skills, meet artists and performers, explore and gain knowledge of meaningful and interesting topics, and have a chance to meet and get to know others who share similar interests as you take part in the larger community found at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. See the list below or  view the Brochure in PDF format (second page is re-directioned).

Workshop Early-Week Performance Special: If you purchase any workshop scheduled for January 29-February 1, 2012, you can purchase tickets for evening performances Monday, January 30 and Tuesday, February 1, at a $5 discount. If you want to take advantage of this special early-week discount you must phone in your order. Be sure to tell the person taking your order that you want to participate in the “early-week performance special.” If you are purchasing a qualifying early-week workshop and a Monday or Tuesday show, the discount will apply.

Rawhide Hobble Braiding with Doug Groves - $350
Sunday, January 29 – Wednesday, February 1
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
In this four-day workshop you will learn all aspects of rawhide braiding from the harvest of a suitable cowhide through the string-making process, to the finished product—a set of rawhide hobbles. Beginners and intermediate rawhide braiders will choose the level of complexity and challenge in their individual hobble project (i.e. eight strands, 16 strands, adding color). Doug Groves is known and respected around the Great Basin region as a buckaroo and rawhide braider, and enjoys braiding, teaching his art form and creating a supportive atmosphere for learning. In 2009 he received the Nevada Governor’s Arts Award. Doug will be assisted by accomplished braiders Grant Groves and Charlie Lieson, among others.

Hat Making with Roy Jackson: Traditional vs. Contemporary
SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Monday, January 30 – Wednesday, February 1
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Back by popular demand! Learn the art and craft of hat making using methods that have changed little since the mid to late 1800s. This three-day workshop will introduce you to hat making without machines. You will build your own hat using just a few simple tools and techniques. The differences between traditional and contemporary hat making will be discussed during each phase of the class. Participants will learn dry blocking and wet blocking, choosing the correct block, pouncing and finishing the 100% beaver felt. Hats will then be sized, trimmed and ready to wear. Master Hatter Roy Jackson has been building quality hats for 15 years. His business, Jaxonbilt Hat Co., is in Salmon, Idaho.

Ranch Tour: A Day at the Ranch - $155 (includes lunch)
Tuesday, January 31
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Join native Nevadan John Collett for a day-long tour of Elko County ranches. Each year John creates a fresh and unique ranch experience by working with local ranchers and engaging tour participants in the issues of the day. During the tour you will get a glimpse of a rancher’s way of life, including wintertime care of livestock, the art of breeding and training horses and the challenges that face modern-day ranch operations. The day will include a home-cooked Dutch-oven meal where you can visit with ranch families and fellow tour participants.

A Gathering of Masters: Leather Carving Workshop - $325
Tuesday, January 31 – Wednesday, February 1
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Hone your tooling skills at this intermediate- to advanced-level workshop with master leather carvers Don Butler, Doug Krause, Steve Mecum, Bob Park, Andy Stevens and Gaylerd Thissell. Master carvers will guide you as you tool a pattern, teaching you new techniques and giving tips along the way. One-on-one attention with these masters will take your leather-tooling skills to new heights. Leather and patterns will be provided; bring your own tools. Sponsored by Andy Stevens Saddlery and Great Basin Leather Company.

Git Along Little Bloggies: a Blogging Workshop - $175
Tuesday, January 31 – Wednesday, February 1
9 am – 4 pm
Blogging is a creative endeavor, a way to push yourself as a writer, photographer and artist, and to connect with what interests you most. This workshop will explore why, what and how to blog. We will look at a variety of blogs (rural, creative, spiritual, mommy and daddy blogs, humor) and discuss how to develop your own concept and what makes quality content, both written and visual. Not a technical workshop: work will be within a simple template so you can see how to actually produce a blog post. Through exercises and an overnight assignment, everyone will produce at least one entry. Taught by Teresa Jordan, author of the blog The Year of Living Virtuously (Weekends Off), with help from guests such as John and Robbin Dofflemyer, who maintain the popular blog drycrickjournal: Perspectives from the Ranch from their ranch in the southern Sierra foothills of California.

Fiddles in the Cow Camp - $150
Fiddle Styles of the American West with Skip Gorman
Tuesday, January 31 – Wednesday, February 1
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
This intermediate to advanced fiddle class will provide an overview of some of the styles and techniques used to play the fiddle in the West from the 19th century to the present, emphasizing the styles that predate jazz and swing. The workshop will include the fiddle styles of Texas fiddlers Eck Robertson and Benny Thomasson, waltzes from Utah, and Appalachian and Celtic styles. It is not necessary to read tabs or musical notation; tunes will be taught by ear. The group will choose several tunes in a variety of keys, broken down into sections, and worked through loving repetition. Along with the investigation of the origins and age of the tunes, we will cover fingering and bow techniques, back bowing, double shuffle, double stops, crosstunings, ornaments and bow shakes. There will be a two-hour lunch break each day.

Savoring the Southwest - $65
Tuesday, January 31
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Bring the warmth of the Southwest into your January kitchen during this class that features traditional southwestern cooking. You will be roasting corn and green chiles to make cornbread and green chile chicken enchiladas. You’ll also make homemade tortillas for creative quesadillas. And of course there’ll be margaritas! This is a three-hour cooking class taught by Trinity Steffensen, a classically trained French chef and the owner of Let Them Eat Cake Bakery in Elko, and Shawn Lowe, a self-taught bread baker who runs What's For Dinner in Elko.

The Whole Ravioli with Luc Gerber - $65
Wednesday, February 1
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Spend the morning with chef Luc Gerber making assorted fresh ravioli accompanied by some of Luc’s favorite sauces. For the salad course you will learn how to make a balsamic glaze and Caesar salad. The meal wouldn’t be complete without one of Luc’s specialties—homemade cannolli. You’ll learn great recipes to prepare at home and a bit of the history of Italian cooking. Luc is the head chef and owner of Luciano’s restaurant in downtown Elko. He went to culinary school in Paris where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in culinary arts. He has worked as a cook in Paris, San Francisco and Elko.

Traditions from the Ronstadt Family Table - $65
Wednesday, February 1
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Favorite recipes get passed around like songs and stories and are a part of everyone’s family history. In this workshop, the Ronstadt family shares some of its family favorites from generations of life in the southwest United States and northern Mexico. Members of the musical group Ronstadt Generations will be on hand to prepare their versions of traditional dishes such as chilaquiles, green chile soup, calabacitas, and pastel de tres leches while sharing stories of their family heritage.

Ranch Dancing with Craig Miller - $20
Friday, February 3
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Relive the fun of dancing at grange hall dances, old-time barn dances and ranch dances once held throughout the West. You will learn at least five dances; all dances will have a caller. This workshop will get you dancing in no time. Beginners are welcome and you don’t need a partner to attend.

Two-Step and Swing with Martha Jane - $20
SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Friday, February 3
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Knowing the basics of these two dances will enable you to dance to just about anything. Both two-step and single-rhythm swing share a six-beat basic and can be used together in many songs for variety, interest and fun. While the two-step is danced to a great range of tempos, the single- rhythm swing is danced to the moderately quicker tempos. You will also learn how to adapt it to triple-rhythm if the music is a bit slower. Beginners are welcome and you don’t need a partner to attend.

Waltz and Polka with Martha Jane - $20
Saturday, February 4
2:00 pm  – 4:00 pm
Focusing primarily on the waltz, this two-hour class will also introduce enough polka basics to get you flying around the room. Waltzing is known both as the quintessential romantic couples dance and as a bumper car dance. This class will teach three forms of the waltz so you will be able to lead or follow anyone on the floor. You will also learn how to navigate the floor and lead and follow comfortably. Beginners are welcome and you don’t need a partner to attend.