West Virginia Folklife Program Presents 

Jim Costa with Zoe van Buren

January 25, 5:30-7:30pm

West Virginia Humanities Council Headquarters

Historic MacFarland-Hubbard House

1310 Kanawha Blvd E., Charleston

Please join us at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, West Virginia Humanities Council headquarters in Charleston on January 25 from 5:30-7:30 for a concert by West Virginia old-time musician and collector Jim Costa. The evening includes a musical performance by Costa, a presentation on his collection by folklore student Zoe van Buren, and a question-answer session. A reception with light refreshments will follow. The event is free and open to the public, but guests should RSVP via eventbrite or by calling 304.346.8500.

Jim Costa, 67, is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician and storyteller. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18^th and 19^th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan.

In the summer of 2016, University of North Carolina folklore grad student Zoe van Buren spent two months with Costa, conducting oral histories and documenting his extensive collection. As part of the program, Van Buren will present on her work and lead a Q&A with Costa about his life, music, and collection. Read more about van Buren’s work here.

The West Virginia Folklife Program is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council and is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Folk & Traditional Arts Program. West Virginia Folklife is dedicated to the documentation, preservation, presentation, and support of West Virginia’s vibrant cultural heritage and living traditions.

Find more details on the concert via our press release and on Facebook. Update: The concert is sold-out as of 1/23/2017.