Welcome! Ciad Mille Failte!
|
The Scotsville School of Crafts was founded in 1991 by the Lake Ainslie Weavers & Craft Guild. Their vision has transformed an old school into a unique centre for the display and teaching of several traditional crafts that include weaving, spinning and painting.
This well equipped facility, on Cape Breton Island’s west coast is centrally located in Inverness County on beautiful Lake Ainslie (Nova Scotia’s largest freshwater lake) in the village of Scotsville. It is accessible from the Trans Canada in Whycocomagh, the Margarees on Rt 395, and Rt 19 between Mabou and Inverness.
The Lake Ainslie Weavers & Craft Guild offers classes at the School in spring and fall and operates a gallery and summer gift shop featuring products produced by local artisans. During October’s ten day Celtic Colours International Music Festival, a unique Cape Breton Island-wide celebration of Celtic & Gaelic culture, the Scotsville School hosts Lakeside Impressions with a gallery of works by Guild members as well as a variety of workshops of interest to the many international visitors that attend the festival.
In past years, Guild members have designed and registered local tartans and reproduced a highly acclaimed 100 Year Old Trousseau which was exhibited at the Mary Black Gallery in Halifax, the Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton and the Miners Museum in Inverness. They have also performed their skills at public demonstrations and recently have been raising money for the local palliative care society by participating in the International Back to Back Wool Challenge, based in Australia, in which a sheep is sheared, the wool spun and a sweater knit in a day following international rules.
The Scotsville School of Crafts is a member of the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design and has several juried members in the Lake Ainslie Weavers and Craft Guild.
