Every year during the week of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Western Folklife Center organizes more than a dozen workshops on a variety of topics including but not limited to: traditional arts, cooking, gear making, contemporary ranch issues, writing, poetry, and music, to provide a richer and deeper experience for those that make the trip to Elko. It's an excellent opportunity to be taught new skills, meet artists and performers, explore and gain knowledge of meaningful and interesting topics, and have a chance to meet and get to know others who share similar interests as you take part in the larger community found at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.  See the full daily schedule (in PDF format). Click here for discussions and special sessions.

Rawhide Braiding with Doug Groves - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Sunday, January 27 – Wednesday, January 30
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
In this workshop you will learn all aspects of rawhide braiding from the harvest of a suitable cowhide through the string-making process, to the finished product—either a two-rein bosal or a quirt. Beginners and intermediate rawhide braiders will have the flexibility to choose one of these projects and the level of complexity and challenge in their individual project. Doug Groves is known and respected around the Great Basin region as a buckaroo and rawhide braider. He will be assisted by accomplished braiders Grant Groves and Charlie Lieson.

A Gathering of Masters: Leather Carving Workshop - $325
Tuesday, January 29 – Wednesday, January 30
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Hone your tooling skills at this two-day, intermediate- to advanced-level workshop with master leather carvers Don Butler, Doug Krause, Steve Mecum, Pedro Pedrini and Andy Stevens. These leather artisans will guide you as you tool a pattern, teaching you new techniques and giving tips along the way. With one-on-one attention you will learn pattern layout and improve your carving skills. Leather will be provided; bring your own tools. Sponsored by Andy Stevens Saddlery and Thoroughbred Leather.

Cinch Making with Jennifer Whiteley - $200
Tuesday, January 29
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Spend the day learning how to tie a standard 19-strand mohair cinch with Jennifer Bieroth Whiteley. Jennifer Whiteley grew up on the family ranch near Mountain City, Nevada, and she and her husband are now raising a family of their own on a ranch in northeastern Nevada. She has been tying cinches for seven years, first learning as a way to fill time in a cow camp with no electricity, and now filling custom orders through the cowboy network. Her work can be seen on Facebook at Jennifer's Custom Cinches. Supplies will be provided, including dyed mohair. Each participant will leave with the knowledge to tie his or her own cinches, a cinch board, custom cinch, and information on purchasing materials.

Talkin' Songs with David Wilkie and Paul Zarzyski - $10
Tuesday, January 29
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Esteemed singer-songwriter David "The Man With The Mandolin" Wilkie of Cowboy Celtic partners-up with poet-friend, co-writer, and wanna-be-rock-n-roweler, Paul "Rodeo To The Bone" Zarzyski, to reach deep out into the Musical Universe in search of those cosmic components of music and message, melody and lyric, that lend themselves to taking both writer and keen-eared, soulful aficionado on fresh creative journeys. Whether via instrumental accompaniment or a capella or bare-bones spoken word recitation, Dave Wilkie and Paul Zarzyski look forward to offering their most emotionally honest response to your work- in-progress (no "finished" songs, please).

Italian Cow Country Cooking - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
with Valerio De Donatis
Tuesday, January 29
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Valerio De Donatis, one of the most revered cooks from Italy's cow country, will demonstrate and prepare a traditional meal. With roots in the Maremma region of southern Tuscany, Valerio De Donatis knows original and traditional recipes of this region of Italy like no other. He shares his love of cooking and this regional cuisine year-round at his restaurants located outside of Rome, Italy.

Ranch Tour: A Day at the Ranch - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Wednesday, January 30
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Join native Nevadan John Collett for a day-long tour of Elko County ranches. Each year John works with local ranchers to create a unique ranch visit that engages tour participants in discussions about the issues facing modern-day ranches. During the tour you will get a glimpse of a rancher’s daily life, including winter-time care of livestock and the art of breeding and training horses. The tour includes a home-cooked Dutch-oven meal where you can visit with ranch families and fellow tour participants.

Lines Drawn Along the Written Word - $150
Wednesday, January 30
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
This workshop explores uses of drawing as well as written "sketches" to capture significant moments, notable subjects and ideas of your life. Cowboy poets and artists Bill Lowman and Sean Sexton have used both to recount their lifetimes of stock handling and pastoralism. Open to those who don't draw or think they don't, this workshop focuses on the illustration and crystallization of one's experiences through drawing media, poetry and verbal sketches. The lesson takes place in a workshop atmosphere including an outing for a visual scavenger hunt to find and apprehend your own subjects. Materials and encouragement will be provided; bring your own poetry and writing to illustrate.

Bread and Jam with Tam - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Wednesday, January 30
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Join Tamara Adams for a morning of kneading, shaping, baking, chopping, stirring and pouring. Learn about how you can whip up a batch of rolls or a couple of loaves of bread and a delicious jar of jam with "what's on hand!" For over 40 years, Tamara Adams has managed the kitchen and overseen the organic gardens and orchards at Emandal-A Farm on a River, a retreat/camp/farm/ ranch in Mendocino County, California. Emandal provides three meals a day for 60 to 80 people, much of the food raised right on the farm. For this workshop, we aren't guaranteeing instant gratification, but it will be gratifying! Bread and jam is assured for each participant.

Intermediate to Advanced Rhythm Guitar - $120
with Joey McKenzie
Wednesday, January 30
10:00 am – 3:30 pm
In two, 2-hour sessions, award-winning multi-instrumentalist Joey McKenzie will use fiddle and western swing tunes to explore the treasures of Texas-style rhythm. Students will be introduced to new chord formations, bass runs and how to use them, and passing chords. They will also explore ways to develop technique and musicianship. Recording is encouraged, and students will need to bring their own guitar and should be able to comfortably play basic major and minor chords.

Italian American Cuisine on a Nevada Ranch - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Wednesday, January 30
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Loving descriptions of food-making traditions picture prominently in conversations with Italian-American ranching families. Pasta dishes, wine making, sausage making and sweet desserts have endured time and travel to the American West. The Cerri family has been making homemade Italian sausage for generations, using an old family recipe and a cast iron sausage stuffer. Ron Cerri is the fourth generation to be involved in ranching. His great-grandfather Lorenzo Recanzone began the extended family's ranching legacy in the 1900s when he settled in Paradise Valley, Nevada, from the Piedmontese region of Italy. Ron Cerri and his wife and children continue that legacy on the historic Rebel Creek Ranch in Orovada. Ron Cerri will be joined by other Italian-American cooks to share favorite dishes from their family tables.

Blood Memory: Extending the Great Tradition of Western Song - $25
Friday, February 1
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Songwriter Tom Russell will discuss the process of composing new songs with an eye on the present and future, but with a strong foothold in history and tradition. Tom Russell will speak about his current work and methods, and will encourage dialogue and questions.

Great Basin Dances - $25 -- (Updated: 08/23/2012)
Friday, February 1
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Relive the fun of dancing at grange hall dances, old-time barn dances and ranch dances once held throughout the Great Basin.  Around the turn of the 20th Century, dancing was the most popular form of recreation and community halls were filled every weekend with couples dancing to the tunes of a waltz, Virginia reel or big circle dance.  Craig Miller will call a variety of fun dances with simple steps, and you will be dancing in no time.  Beginners are welcome and you don’t need a partner. Come prepared to meet a lot of people and have a lot of fun--the old-fashioned way! 

Baxter Black on Self-Publishing and Marketing - $25
Friday, February 1
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Participants are encouraged to purchase and read Baxter's Lessons From a Desperado Poet in preparation for this workshop, which will instruct the entrepreneur, inspire the ambitious, and entertain the teeming masses. Lessons From a Desperado Poet is available in the Western Folklife Center Gift Shop.

Texas Two-Step - $25
Friday, February 1
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Quick, quick, slow, slow is the rhythm of the Texas Two Step, which you will master in this class taught by Patricia Blanchard. Two Step can be danced to many different styles of music, including swing and most of the music played at the Gathering dances. So grab your boots and start dancing! Beginning and advanced dancers are welcome and you don’t need a partner to attend. Featuring life music by Wylie & The Wild West.

Secrets of Italian Cuisine with Valerio De Donatis - SORRY, THIS WORKSHOP IS SOLD OUT
Saturday, February 2
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Valerio De Donatis is celebrated not only for tasty, traditional dishes of the Roman hill country but also as an innovative chef and restauranteur. He will share recipes and hints from his experiences cooking in rural Italy and cosmopolitan Rome. Buon appetito!

Rodeo Swing - $25
Saturday, February 2
2:00 pm  – 4:00 pm
Craig Miller will teach you the basics of what he calls Rodeo Swing, a style of swing commonly danced at rodeos around the western states. Once you've got the basics, Craig will teach you some of the more dazzling moves you can use at the Gathering dances. Beginning and advanced dancers are welcome and you don’t need a partner to attend.

View the brochure in PDF format.