Folklife Center
Founded in 2009, the Perkins Folklife Center is one of five New Jersey centers for the documentation, presentation, support, and celebration of the Garden State’s rich cultural heritage.
Whether sung or told, hand-crafted or performed, New Jersey’s rich folklife refers to those “arts of everyday life” that reflect a sense of traditional knowledge and connection to community. South Jersey’s folkways are rich with traditions that have been rooted in the area for centuries, as well as those that more recently have been carried here and nourished by our diverse immigrant communities.
The Perkins Folklife Center was established with funding support from the New Jersey Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Perkins Folklife Center hosts a series of events throughout the year to amplify the work of cultural artisans and tradition bearers. These events are open to the public and encourage discussion, understanding, and participation. Attend a Folklife event and learn about important cultural traditions that offer resources for self-expression and creating community in our region.
Folklife Conversations: Perkins’ Folklife Conversations series encourages intimate discussion between attendees and artisans, community organizers, academics, and others. The series explores the importance, impact, and influence of the arts in our communities through a variety of lenses. Visit Perkins’ YouTube channel to watch the ‘21-’22 season (previously named Conversations on Culture).
Perkins World Stage series: This series of free concerts and festival-like events takes place on West Evergreen Lawn in Moorestown. Working directly with cultural artisans, Perkins presents these evening events to encourage community participation in events like an Indian mela, traditional Irish music and dance, and more. Join us on the Lawn to learn more about the rich cultural traditions represented in our communities and enjoy a festive evening with friends and family!
Watch highlights from the 2022 World Stage series here!
Join us in 2023!
If you are a cultural artisan or community-based arts organization that would like to perform or partner with us in a future event, click here: Find Your Folk Survey
Oral History Events and Education: Through storytelling and sharing of traditions, cultures, and legacies are passed from generation to generation. Would you like to learn oral history techniques? Do you have a story to share? Or do you want to encourage someone else to tell theirs? Contact the Folklife Center at (856) 235-6488 x316 or email folklife@perkinscenter.org to learn about oral history training opportunities or projects in the Tri-County region.
Perkins StoryPad is a mobile hub for sharing and collecting the rich stories that make South Jersey a vibrant region. The StoryPad contains a recording setup and a mini portrait studio designed to gather audiovisual stories from diverse South Jersey residents, workers, and people whose heritage ties them to the area. Staff and volunteers from Perkins set up the Storypad at selected World Stage and community events.
The project doubles as a Listening Space for our H.E.A.R. Heritage Evident and Relevant] oral history project funded by the New Jersey Council on the Humanities and a multimedia lab to share storytelling skills with local residents.
Do you have a story to share? Follow our social media to find out where the StoryPad will pop up next, and read some highlights.
Access to the arts for all, regardless of age or ability, is an essential part of the Perkins Folklife Center’s mission. Through the Folk & Traditional Arts at Home program, cultural artisans teach a craft, do a demonstration, and even perform music and dance for audiences in the comfort and privacy of their homes. The audience may choose either an in-person or remote program.
We invite inquiries from individuals, senior centers, assisted living facilities, and care providers. For more information call (856) 235-6488 x316 or contact folklife@perkinscenter.org.
Click to view the Folk and Traditional Arts brochure
Through Folk Arts in Education (FAIE), we develop students’ imaginations and skills through traditional arts practices. Through these activities students are taught to envision, believe in and grow from alternative ways of learning. Through these activities students understand themselves, and their place, in their communities and the larger world. Funds may be available to bring experienced cultural artisans who are skilled in leading workshops and residencies for various ages, populations, and learning styles. To learn more, contact us at (856) 235-6488 ext. 305 or folklife@perkinscenter.org.
Link to Arts Reaching the Students brochure
Perkins Folklife Center wants to help you advance in your discipline! Whether you’re looking to apply for a grant, or a new platform to share your skills, we can help you advance in your discipline and assist you with networking opportunities.
Cultural artisans from all over South Jersey come together at Perkins to create, perform, display, and share their work. Cultural artisans don’t always go to art school or win prestigious prizes. Their work is important and meaningful because it is produced by and for members of the community.
Perkins Center wants to amplify the creative work of cultural artisans, expose them to new audiences, and connect them with opportunities for professional development. To join our Folklife Center’s Artist Roster, please complete the following:
Link to Find Your Folk! Survey
We look forward to learning more about you and your work as a cultural artisan!
For more information call (856) 235-6488 x316 or contact folklife@perkinscenter.org.
Each year the New Jersey State Council on the Arts awards Folk Arts Apprenticeship Grants to help emerging cultural artisans hone their skills under the guidance of an experienced artist in the same discipline: music, dance, foodways, storytelling, crafts, and traditional occupations.
For more information about Folk Arts Apprenticeships, and to find out if you are eligible, contact us at (856) 235-6488 ext. 316 or folklife@perkinscenter.org.
Our FY 23 Apprenticeship program will support Ritu Pandya (master artist) and Janvi Patel (apprentice) in a six-month study of mandala (also called rangoli), Hindu/Buddhist devotional images created in sand, that are said to represent an ideal universe and often used for meditation and healing purposes.
Our research and curation “in the field”– in partnership with cultural artisans and the communities where they live and work–shape the rich programming of the Folklife Center, the New Jersey Folk Festival, and other organizations throughout the region.
A current Folklife fieldwork project is Crafting Crowns: The Folklife of African American Hair Stylists.
This project centers on preserving African American hair artistry traditions passed down through families and communities in Southern New Jersey. We examine the hair salon (in a fixed site or as a movable experience) as a cultural space and consider the occupational benefits and challenges experienced by hair artisans working independently versus within a salon.
Under the direction of cultural anthropologist and senior researcher Paulette Young, we are collecting stories from local hair stylists with diverse skills and perspectives on hair styling as independent operators, freelancers and business owners in urban and suburban Black communities. Participants are being interviewed and photographed for a future Perkins program or mini-exhibit.
