Website: https://cumberlandfolkschool.com/
Cumberland Folk School is a craft and traditional-skills education center located at 320 Dixon Cove Road in Sequatchie, Tennessee. Situated in Coppinger Cove of the Cumberland Plateau and accessible from both Nashville and Chattanooga, the school states its mission as working to “preserve, teach, celebrate and commune around traditional crafts and skills.” Its programming connects hands-on craft instruction with sustainable land management and farming, and the school emphasizes intentionality, community building, and connection to nature as core values of the learning experience. Classes are held in the on-site Studio at Sequatchie Cove Farm.
Services
The school offers workshops across a wide range of traditional crafts and homestead skills. Listed subjects include natural dyeing, quilting, mending, sewing, basketry, broom making, spoon carving, woodworking, textile design, cooking, baking, bread making, butchering, fermentation, food preservation, mushroom foraging, bird watching, herbal medicine, and book making.
The student experience extends beyond the classroom. Course participation includes farm-fresh meals, with cooking and meal planning handled on-site, and classes meet in the Studio at Sequatchie Cove Farm rather than a conventional classroom setting. Students also have access to the farm’s Trading Post, which sells pasture-raised meat, eggs, vegetables, cheese, and other farm products. Class registration and the store are available through the website.
About
The school grew out of the friendship and shared interests of its two founders, Carroll and Ashley. Carroll manages administrative operations, including the website, email, and scheduling, and brings a background as a professional gardener and former cut-flower farmer, with knitting as a primary craft interest. Carroll grew up in a family of craftspeople, with a mother who worked as a potter, painter, and seamstress and a father who was a woodworker and furniture conservator.
Ashley oversees on-site operations and the execution of classes, and is a member of the Sequatchie Cove Farm family as well as a farmer and homeschooling parent. Ashley’s background includes early involvement with the Sequatchie Valley Institute, which provided an introduction to the folk-school learning model, and a three-month work study at the John C. Campbell Folk School, where the focus included weaving, knitting, natural dyeing, banjo, felting, and contra dance. After Carroll relocated to live closer to Ashley’s family farm, the two established the school together.
Location & Contact
Cumberland Folk School is located at 320 Dixon Cove Road, Sequatchie, TN 37374, operating at Sequatchie Cove Farm on Ashley’s family property. The school can be reached by email at [email protected].
Additional Information
The school’s website includes sections covering its story, the student experience, information for prospective instructors, a combined classes-and-store page, details on Sequatchie Cove Farm, a blog, and a contact page. The pairing of craft instruction with a working farm allows students to combine skill-building with farm-fresh meals and direct access to locally produced goods during their visits.
Profile compiled from the company’s official website (cumberlandfolkschool.com).