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 is free and open to the public, but attendees should register here.

Mehmet Oztan is the founder of the Morgantown Seed Preservation Library and owner of the Preston County-based heirloom seed company Two Seeds in a Pod, which focuses on preserving Turkish, West Virginia, and Appalachian heirloom seeds. He has been invited to speak about his work at local and national seed swaps. Lafayette Dexter facilitates a community garden project at New Roots Community Farm in Fayette County and plans to eventually include seed saving in his market garden educational programming.

Learn more about their apprenticeship here.

The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, which is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, offers a 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 their histories and traditions. This marks the second year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.

For more information on the event contact Tricia Stringer at stringer@wvhumanities.org or (304)346-8500.