{"id":19346,"date":"2026-03-03T19:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?p=19346"},"modified":"2026-03-05T19:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:27:35","slug":"north-house-folk-school-grand-marais-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/stories\/north-house-folk-school-grand-marais-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"North House: The Scenic Route Back to the Human Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Birch, ash, cedar, spruce, and pine\u2014these trees surround this campus, but they\u2019re also transformed inside<\/em>. It\u2019s almost like magic, this arboreal cycle: Trees turn to boats and baskets, houses and tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

North House Folk School itself occupies a couple of old forest service buildings, its campus shaking hands with Lake Superior\u2019s shores and a lively, small city. Driving north up the scenic route, you can\u2019t enter Grand Marais, Minnesota, without driving through <\/em>the school grounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of reasons people come to Cook County,\u201d like outdoor recreation, says Program Director Jessa Frost. \u201cBut North House is a really year-round consistent part of what the draw is.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Students and community members learn about different types of yarn at an open house event.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

The school\u2019s most recent financial study found it had a $14 million yearly impact on the local economy. That\u2019s, in part, due to North House\u2019s employees and instructors who live in the county\u2014plus drawing a consistent (and hungry) crowd of students to local restaurants throughout the year, Frost says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Hosting over 3,000 students annually, the school\u00a0puts on\u00a0hundreds of classes.\u00a0Learners make clothing, baskets, and bread, and work with leather,\u00a0wood, and beads. Some even\u00a0participate\u00a0as resident artisans, interns, and work-study learners,\u00a0creating\u00a0with others from across the Midwest,\u00a0country, and even world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI really love it when people are connected to folks that they would not have met, and they may not share other things in common with\u2014other than this shared interest in learning to build a door, or whatever it is.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n JESSA FROST, NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL<\/cite>\n <\/blockquote>\n\n