2024-2025 Folklife Apprenticeship Application and Guidelines Now Available APPLICATION DEADLINE: August 26, 2024 The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, is now accepting applications for its statewide Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Hosted biennially, this program supports traditional artists working with dedicated apprentices on a yearlong apprenticeship in their cultural expression…
Author: West Virginia Folklife Program
Dedicated to the documentation, preservation, presentation, and support of West Virginia’s vibrant cultural heritage and living traditions. West Virginia Folklife 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.
Always Keep the Memories Alive: A Memorial Day Tradition in Edwight
This article was originally published in the Winter 2022 issue of Goldenseal magazine. It is re-published today for Memorial Day in remembrance of Daniel Wilson (1942-2023). Written by Jennie Williams. Photos by Mike Keller. On Memorial Day, one might drive by a cemetery and see brightly colored flowers dotting each gravesite in remembrance of those…
Author Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth in Charleston at Taylor Books, June 21
On Friday, June 21, 2024 at 5:30PM, State Folklorist Jennie Williams will host a conversation with author and folklorist Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth about his new book Finding the Singing Spruce: Musical Instrument Makers and Appalachia’s Mountain Forests at Taylor Books, located at 226 Capitol St, Charleston, WV 25301. This free event takes place as part of…
A New Research Project with the Mountain Weavers Guild
We are excited to announce that West Virginia Folklife, a program of the West Virginia Humanities Council, received a Folk and Traditional Arts Experiences grant from Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions program (CALT) to work collaboratively with the Mountain Weavers Guild in Elkins, West Virginia on a project titled “An Archival and Ethnographic…
Apply for a Legends & Lore Marker Grant
Legends & Lore Marker Grant Program Seeking Applications Application Deadline: April 29, 2024Next window to apply: August 26, 2024 – October 14, 2024 The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is accepting applications for its Legends & Lore Marker Grant Program. The program highlights local folklife and promotes cultural tourism in the participating states in the United…
A Summer at the Augusta Heritage Center
A version of this article is published in the Winter 2023 issue of Goldenseal magazine. It is written by West Virginia State Folklorist Jennie Williams and edited by Laiken Blankenship. The Augusta Heritage Center celebrated its 50th anniversary of providing enriching educational programming in the folk and traditional arts in 2023. In the summer, the Center hosts three…
Fasnacht 2024
On Saturday, February 10, 2024, residents of Helvetia, West Virginia celebrated their 57th Annual Fasnacht. Embracing creativity and revelry, Fasnacht is a pre-Lenten tradition that dates back to 1520 in Switzerland and celebrates the changing of the seasons. The event welcomes locals, other West Virginians, and guests from far away to bring their homemade masks…
Celebrating a new Wheeling Community Cookbook
Congratulations to Grow Ohio Valley on their newly self-published Wheeling community cookbook titled “A Little of This, a Little of That.” Compiled by Emma Goldenthal and Corbin T Lanker, the cookbook is a wonderful collection of recipes, photography, and food stories from twenty-six local recipe and story contributors! On December 14, 2023, Grow Ohio Valley…
Remembering Dr. Travis Stimeling
Dr. Travis Stimeling, a remarkable scholar, writer, teacher, professor, musician, friend, and supporter of the West Virginia Humanities Council and West Virginia Folklife Program. We will deeply miss them for their kind encouragement and enthusiasm for promoting traditional music and creative practices in West Virginia. The following obituary was written by Mary Linscheid and Melanie…
“Still Inventing:” A Fiber Arts Apprenticeship between Life-Long Friends
This article is published in the Fall 2023 issue of Goldenseal Magazine. It is written by West Virginia State Folklorist Jennie Williams and edited by Laiken Blankenship. The article is based on an interview recorded by the State Folklorist with the Folklife Apprenticeship pair on March 22, 2023. Barbara Weaner and Enrica McMillon have been…
Save the Dates for the WV Folklife Apprenticeship Showcases
We are celebrating our participants with three West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program showcases! Free and open to the public.
We Can Build Mountains: Aristotle Jones and Soul Music in Appalachia
“Appalachian Soul Man” Aristotle Jones is a professional musician and radio personality who is carrying on his music tradition in Osage where his grandfather and extended family have lived.
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