Folklife is all around you at the Jersey Shore Folklife Center!
The Jersey Shore Folklife Center at Tuckerton Seaport is dedicated to documenting, presenting, and, most important of all, sharing the traditions and diverse communities of the Jersey Shore and Pinelands.
Join us for programming, classes, and demonstrations by local folk artists and craftspeople that explore how the Pinelands and the Bay have influenced the communities that live here. Take classes in our Folklife Center building. View our collections of decoys and sneakboxes. Learn from real tradition bearers who pass their torches on to the next generation.
Folklife isn’t far away in the past or even far from your front door. Folklife is alive!
The Jersey Shore Folklife Center offers classes on fiber arts, decoy carving, and more! Check in monthly for new offerings.
The Center is also a hub for research and information on local customs, traditions, and cultural history. You can view some of our fieldwork on our YouTube Channel or on our StoryCorps Community Page. They are updated frequently, so there’s always new information and research available.
Meet Mary May
Mary May is a New Jersey folk artist specializing in South Jersey basket weaving. Check out our course schedule to join Mary at the Jersey Shore Folklife Center for her next basketweaving course.
Meet Valerie Vaughn
Folk musician Valerie Vaughn, aka New Jersey’s Troubadour, has a vast collection of original songs about the legends and the lore of NJ. A musical storyteller living in the South Jersey town of Tuckerton, Valerie’s song about the falling of the Tucker’s Island Lighthouse was written long before the Tuckerton Seaport and lighthouse were rebuilt in replica. Today, she sings these songs wherever people want to celebrate the spirit of the people and places of NJ.
Learn more about Valerie or check out our course schedule to join her at the Jersey Shore Folklife Center for her next course.
Meet Andrew Tonnesen
A Graduate of the Jersey Shore Folklife Center’s Youth Carving Club Program, Andrew Tonnesen has been carving at Tuckerton Seaport for most of his life. Check out our course schedule to join Andrew at the Jersey Shore Folklife Center for the next carving program.
For more information on New Jersey Folk Arts in Education, click for more info:
The New Jersey Council on the Arts provides access to traditional folk arts for homebound individuals, click for more info:
