As New Yorkers who live part-time in Nova Scotia, Canada, and run a summer school for adults to learn traditional crafts and painting, we’re often asked how we happened to get there and how we came up with the idea for Lunenburg Seaside Craft School.
 
You could call it serendipitous; perhaps it was also inevitable. Think two people smitten by a place, by its people, by its spirit, by its arts. Think two people wanting something to do—two people who don’t golf.
 
One thing for sure: six years later and still it doesn’t cease to amaze: Our little school that connects us with our adopted town has brought visitors from as nearby as Halifax and Prince Edward Island and as far away as Minnesota and Georgia, British Columbia and Alberta, and, at one time, Namibia, Africa!
 
But how did it happen? A brief history will explain a little more.
 
Having made numerous trips to Nova Scotia from New York over the course of two-plus decades, our travels usually took us straight from the ferry dock in Yarmouth, driving some eight hours or more to the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton.
 
This being the plan once again in late spring, 2001, we’d counted on getting some exercise hiking the trails in Highlands National Park at this, the northern tip of the province. We were unaware, though, of just how harsh and snowy the winter had been, and so found ourselves at trailhead after trailhead at the end of May still socked in by snow.

Plans thus dashed, we drove south and began poking around areas we’d never explored. An hour south of Halifax, taking an exit off a main route that, like so many, completely conceals the true details of the land,  we drove through some woods, some farmland, up a hill and found ourselves overlooking the harbors of the Atlantic in the stunning town of Lunenburg. It was love at first sight.
 
Timing being magical that year, four months later we’d returned to New York to contemplate what had just happened: We’d bought a home in the place of our dreams.
 
What had not escaped our notice, even this early on, was the fact that others had also been bitten by the love bug. Since its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Lunenburg had been steadily attracting others from North America’s eastern cities. Amid the teeming population of some 2300, we were called CFAs ("Come From Aways").
 
Mere description though this tag was, Bill and I did not want this designation to keep us “away” from the doings of the town. So we hatched a plan to pursue a dream we’d had for a quite awhile. Inspired by the famous crafts schools of the US—Penland, Haystack, John C. Campbell—we’d parlay our own deep involvement in handwork—me in fiber, Bill in glass—toward establishing a school where others could also enjoy the pleasures of learning a craft.
 
We would offer workshops only in the traditional crafts—those that have been passed down from generation to generation and most often involve natural materials. To this end, our roster, from the start, has always included opportunities to work in clay, glass, fiber, textile, willow, paper, and the paint mediums of acrylic and watercolors.
 
Under the heading of “cultural resources”—a wealth of talented artisans in the province—we were able to recruit, with the stipulation being that every artist must also be an experienced teacher. We have been thus able to ensure visitors a learning experience of the highest quality.
 
Over the course of time, workshops have evolved in a few general directions. Workshops of five-day length are geared to craft persons eager for stimulation among a group of peers while they also explore new directions under the leadership of the artisan/teacher.
 
Under the banner of our new “Weekend Sampler” program, two- or three-day workshops offer beginners a chance to learn new skills as an exploratory experience to hopefully inspire building upon at a later date.
 
In response to many requests, this summer we’ve put two creativity workshops on the calendar just for young people—one week for 10 to 12-year-olds; the next week for 12- to 14-year olds.
 
With workshops running from 9:30 to 3:30, our visitors can participate in an amazing assortment of after-school activities which make Lunenburg such a popular destination. The town of Lunenburg itself epitomizes craft through its unique architectural and boat-making traditions, its abundance of folk art, and its burgeoning arts community.
 
As a UNESCO World Heritage site, Lunenburg is one of only two settled sites in North America to hold this distinction. It also draws many visitors to its major summer festivals which include those that highlight excellence in craft, wooden flute, folk art, seafood, and—the most popular of all—the Folk Harbor Music Festival.

Visitors can chose from an assortment of after-school activities that include a trip to one of the area’s pristine ocean beaches, sailing off on the famous Bluenose II schooner, chartering a boat for whale-watching, visiting the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic or booking a walking tour of the town.
 
There are also plenty of boutiques and restaurants and as one would imagine, Lunenburg has many colorful inns and B & Bs. It also has a beautiful campground that provides a view of both harbors and is situated within walking distance of everything in town.
 
From the start  we’d envisioned the school as a social experience for visitors—as a cultural exchange of ideas—as well as providing excellent craft instruction. This has come to pass quite naturally and successfully.

Highlights include the summer that one of the school’s students happened to be renting a home in a nearby village situated on a fabulously scenic ocean point. She took it upon herself to invite fellow workshop participants out to view sunset and full moon rising over the sea.
 
Another year, at the end of a basket-making workshop that yielded amazing results for its visitors, the teacher decided to have her students out to her place for homemade seafood lasagna.
 
We have seen hospitality in our town above and beyond, when inn owners insisted on driving two women who’d come up from Kentucky to the Halifax airport, some 90 minutes away.
 
Our visitor’s teenage daughter and her daughter’s friend held an impromptu flute recital in our home at the end of a week-long workshop.
 
The project we started some years ago has not let us down for one moment. What we’ve come to see, as the summers dissolve into lovely memories, is that the school is a work in progress, in the spirit of all creative endeavors.