The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, will present the second of three showcases featuring its 2022-23 Folklife Apprenticeship Program Sept. 30 at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University.
This showcase celebrates music-related traditions in West Virginia, including clawhammer banjo with Joe Herrmann and his apprentice Dakota Karper (Hampshire County), old time fiddle with Gerry Milnes (Randolph County) and his apprentice Annick Odom (Monongalia County), and fiddle repair with Chris Haddox and his apprentice Mary Linscheid (Monongalia County).
The event is free and open to the public.
At 4 p.m., the formal presentation starts, with West Virginia State Folklorist Jennie Williams leading a conversation with the pairs about their traditional art forms, apprenticeship experiences and connections to their communities. A reception will follow with an old time music jam. The public is invited to bring acoustic instruments to play with the apprenticeship pairs.
The next and final showcase event, planned for 3 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center in Clarksburg, will celebrate Appalachian storytelling with Bil Lepp and his apprentice James Froemel.
To RSVP for these free public events, go to wvfolklife.org and see “Save the Dates for the WV Folklife Apprenticeship Showcases.”
The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers a stipend to West Virginia 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 encourage experts in their respective art forms to share their techniques and artistry, as well as the histories and traditions of these folklife practices. This marks the third year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.
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 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.
For more information on the event and West Virginia Folklife Program, visit wvfolklife.org or contact Jennie Williams at williams@wvhumanities.org or 304-346-8500.
The West Virginia Humanities Council, an independent nonprofit corporation, is governed by a board of directors whose members are drawn from all parts of West Virginia.
