Tag: folklife

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…

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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…

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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….

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West Virginia Folklife Presents Virtual Apprenticeship Showcase: Old-Time Fiddle & Banjo

Please join us on Thursday, September 23 at noon for a virtual showcase featuring apprenticeship pair in old-time banjo of Central West Virginia, Kim Johnson & Cody Jordan of Kanawha County, and old-time fiddle apprenticeship pair Joe Herrmann & Dakota Karper of Hampshire County. The pairs will perform a concert and host a Q&A. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees should register here.

West Virginia Folklife Presents Virtual Apprenticeship Showcase: Forest Farming

Please join us on Wednesday, September 22 at noon for a virtual apprenticeship showcase featuring forest farmers Ed & Carole Daniels of Randolph County and apprentice Clara Haizlett of Brooke County. The team, who recently completed their 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship year, will present on their apprenticeship cultivating American ginseng and other forest botanicals, and hold a Q&A.

New Film Series with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress Explores Food Traditions in West Virginia

In partnership with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, West Virginia Folklife is excited to launch the new Homegrown Foodways in West Virginia film series, presenting four short films that explore a range of food traditions in the state. The series will be produced by West Virginia farmers, chefs, and foodways storytellers Mike Costello and Amy Dawson of Lost Creek Farm in Harrison County.

West Virginia Folklife Presents Virtual Apprenticeship Showcase: “Sheep-to-Shawl”- The Art of Raising Sheep & Creating Fiber Arts

Please join us on Thursday, June 17th at noon, for a virtual apprenticeship showcase featuring sheep farmer and textile artist Kathy Evans of Preston County and apprentice Margaret Bruning of Randolph County. The pair, who recently completed their 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship year, will screen a video about their apprenticeship in sheep husbandry and fiber arts and hold a Q&A.