Announcing the 2022-2023 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Participants

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…

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…

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: 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.

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.