We are pleased to announce our 2022-2023 cohort of apprenticeship participants in the third round of the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Seven apprenticeship pairs from across the Mountain State will study and practice traditions including soul food cooking, fiddle repair, and mushroom foraging. The Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers $3,000 to recognize and honor West…
West Virginia Folklife Collection at West Virginia University Libraries Receives American Folklore Society’s Brenda McCallum Prize
The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, is honored to announce that the West Virginia Folklife Collection housed at the West Virginia University Libraries has received the Brenda McCallum Prize, an award sponsored by the Archives and Libraries Section of the American Folklore Society. The West Virginia Folklife Collection…
Mollett Family featured in Black By God
The anniversary issue of Black By God – WV Pride: From Juneteenth to Father’s Day and West Virginia Day is now available! This latest issue features a photo of the Mollett Family taken on Memorial Day 2022. Multiple generations of the family gathered to clean and decorate gravesites, tell stories, and honor their ancestors and…
2022-2023 Folklife Apprenticeship Applications and Guidelines Now Available
The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, is now accepting applications for its statewide Folklife Apprenticeship Program. The program supports West Virginia master traditional artists or tradition bearers working with qualified apprentices on a year-long in-depth apprenticeship in their cultural expression or traditional art form. These apprenticeships of traditional music, dance, craft, foodways, storytelling, and more—in any cultural community in the Mountain State—facilitate the transmission of techniques and artistry of the forms as well as their histories and traditions.
Partnership with Central Appalachia Living Traditions
For the past year we have been partnering with Mid Atlantic Arts on their Central Appalachia Living Traditions project, or CALT. CALT promotes the understanding and recognition of folk arts and culture in Appalachian counties of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia through a 3-part program that invests in folk arts communities while seeding new folk…
West Virginia Folklife Presents Apprenticeship Showcase: The Power of Storytelling in Midwifery
Please join us at noon on Thursday, May 5th –The International Day of the Midwife– for a pre-recorded apprenticeship showcase featuring midwife Angy Nixon of Putnam County and her apprentice Christine Weirick of Fayette County. The pair recently completed their 2020-2021 apprenticeship with the West Virginia Folklife Program. Read about their apprenticeship here. The virtual…
Introducing Jennie Williams, the State Folklorist of West Virginia
A version of this piece will be published in the Summer 2022 issue of Goldenseal, a print magazine produced by the WV Department of Arts, Culture and History. My name is Jennie Williams, and I’m thrilled to join the West Virginia Humanities Council and direct the West Virginia Folklife Program as the new state folklorist….
West Virginia Folklife Presents Virtual Apprenticeship Showcase: Seed Saving and Storytelling
West Virginia Folklife Virtual Apprenticeship Showcase: Seed Saving and Related Storytelling Friday, November 5 @ 1 p.m. -2 p.m. via Zoom Please join us on Friday, November 5, at 1 p.m. for a virtual showcase featuring apprenticeship pair in seed saving and related storytelling, Mehmet Oztan of Reedsville and Lafayette Dexter of Fayetteville. The event…
2021 Folklife Apprenticeship Feature: Mehmet Oztan and Lafayette Dexter, Seed Saving and Related Storytelling
The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers up to a $3,000 stipend to West Virginia master traditional artists or tradition bearers working with qualified apprentices on a year-long in-depth apprenticeship in their cultural expression or traditional art form. These apprenticeships aim to facilitate the transmission of techniques and artistry of the forms, as well as…
Watch Homegrown Foodways in West Virginia: “Turkish Cuisine and Seedsaving” & “Ravioli and Sauce”
On Wednesday, September 15th at noon EST on the American Folklife Center’s Facebook page, we will premiere the third and fourth films in the Homegrown Foodways in West Virginia series, featuring Lou Maiuri on ravioli and sauce and Mehmet Öztan on Turkish cuisine and seed keeping.
West Virginia Folklife Collection Now Online Via WVU Libraries
West Virginia Folklife is thrilled to announce that its digital archives collection, The West Virginia Folklife Collection, is now accessible online through the West Virginia and Regional History Center at West Virginia University Libraries. The collection may be viewed at https://wvfolklife.lib.wvu.edu/
Watch Homegrown Foodways in West Virginia: “Korean Heritage and Kimchi”
On Wednesday, September 1 at noon EST on the AFC’s Facebook page, we will premiere the second film in the Homegrown Foodways in West Virginia series, featuring Marlyn McClendon on Korean heritage and kimchi.
wvfolklife.org 