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The Folkus Project was created in the fall of 2000 as a community arts organization presenting folk music concerts and workshops in the Syracuse (N.Y.) area. From the beginning, its programming director has been Joe Cleveland, one of Syracuse's hardest working advocates of folk music. "Folk music is not a money-making endeavor," said Cleveland at the time, "and so we can't depend on venues that are trying to earn a living to sponsor it. Folk and other non-commercial musics are all about grassroots, community support. With the Folkus Project, we now have a way to harness that support to make music in and around the Salt City." The Folkus Project was created with the help and support of Happy Endings
Cake & Coffeehouse (which, sadly, has since closed). For the 10-plus
years that it existed, Happy Endings, and Today, the Folkus Project organizes and sponsors folk/acoustic shows at May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society on East Genesee Street in Syracuse (just this side of Dewitt). Also, Folkus helps present and promote a monthly "second Saturday" series at the Westcott Community Center (corner of Euclid Avenue and Westcott Street). Between Labor Day and Memorial Day each year, approximately 30 shows are presented. In addition, occasional workshops are sponsored (such as banjo performance workshops by Tony Trischka), in coordination with concert appearances by artists who do such things. Recently, the Folkus Project achieved legal status as a nonprofit organization, with a board of directors. Current members of that board are:
Plus, Joe Cleveland, as programming director, sits on the board ex officio. We are almost always searching for new volunteers and board members. Won't you join us? Folk music exists outside of the commercial mainstream and needs the focused attention of a community to survive. The Folkus Project will foster and promote traditional, contemporary, and multicultural folk music in Syracuse and Central New York through folk music concerts and workshops. By doing so, the Folkus Project hopes to increase understanding of the rich variety, artistic value, cultural and historical significance, and continuing relevance of folk music among the educators, media, and the people of Syracuse and Central New York.
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owners
Shelby and John Crowley (shown
at right), provided Syracuse's most welcoming, supportive, and
stable home for folk and acoustic music. The Folkus Project's concert
presentations today, though no longer staged at Happy Endings, directly
continue a legacy begun by John and Shelby and the whole Happy Endings
cosmos. (Even more sadly, Shelby passed away in September 2005. All of Syracuse folkdom misses her.)