Announcing the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program 2021/22 Cohort
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to announce the cohort of master artists and students comprising the 29th year of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). Thirteen projects will be supported this year. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council, the Center initiated the program in 1992 to support the continued vitality of Vermont's living cultural heritage. More than 365 apprenticeships have been supported since 1992. Read about the 13 successful applicants of the 2020 - 2022 program cycle here.
Reflections 10 Years after Irene from Mendon, Vermont
On July 14, 2021, twelve residents of Mendon, Vermont gathered to discuss the lasting impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which is approaching its 10 year commemoration. As the Vermont Folklife Center's summer intern, and University of Vermont student, I helped facilitate a group conversation called a story circle. The opportunity to look at the impact of Irene as a story circle observer allowed me to witness the importance of community and helping out your neighbors.
Ethnography and Community - Online Public Discussion Series offered this Summer
The Vermont Folklife Center will host a series of four online presentations, in conjunction with our Summer Institute programming, August 2-13, 2021. These virtual events are free and open to the public. Through guided discussions with local educators, artists, and VFC staff, each session will offer a different perspective on how ethnography, an approach and set of methods for understanding and representing human experience, can inform and strengthen community-based inquiry and knowledge creation.
Applications Now Open for 2021-2022 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to announce the 29th year of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center initiated the program in 1992 to support the continued vitality of Vermont's living cultural heritage. In partnership with the Vermont Arts Council, VTAAP provides stipends of up to $2,000 to master artist and apprentice pairs to cover time, materials, and travel expenses. 2021 applications from master artist and apprentice pairs will be accepted through September 3rd.
Drawing Turner Family Stories: An Interview with Ezra Veitch
Turner Family Stories is a forthcoming publication from VFC that brings together cartoonists and oral history to share the family stories and personal experiences of Daisy Turner of Grafton, Vermont with new audiences. Contributing cartoonist Ezra Veitch was raised in Grafton, Vermont, and was familiar with Daisy Turner from childhood. Ezra shared how he incorporated this rare vantage point to create a framing narrative that linked together the six chapters of Turner Family Stories.
From the Archives - Dans l'temps des sucres
For the past nine months we have been working with French-Canadian music specialist (and renowned fiddler!) Lisa Ornstein on a project to enrich the documentation of one of the collections of Franco-American song in our archive, the Martha Pellerin Collection. Over this time Lisa has steadily worked her way through a series of recordings created by Martha with Alberta Gagné of Highgate, VT in 1995, researching each of Mme. Gagné’s songs in detail so we can add this new information to our online archive.
The Most Costly Journey
El viaje más caro is an ethnographic cartooning and graphic medicine project that uses collaborative storytelling as a tool to mitigate loneliness, isolation, and despair among Latin American migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy farms. This May, the project released The Most Costly Journey, a 252 page collection of these comics for an English speaking audience.
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Pete Sutherland and Emmett Stowell - "The Old Boom Chuck"
Master artist Pete Sutherland is working with his 10-year-old apprentice Emmett Stowell to bestow the art of what Pete calls the “old boom chuck,” aka New England contra dance piano accompaniment. This Traditional Arts Spotlight features text and audio excerpts from two virtual “site visits” with Pete and Emmett recorded via Zoom last spring and this winter. A site visit offers a chance for artists and apprentices to reflect on and make a record of their work together as well as a chance to build and maintain a relationship with VFC staff (this has felt particularly important during the pandemic).
Drawing Turner Family Stories: An Interview with Lillie Harris
Turner Family Stories is a forthcoming publication from VFC that brings together cartoonists and oral history to share the family stories and personal experiences of Daisy Turner of Grafton, Vermont with new audiences. Contributing cartoonist Lillie Harris reflected on their experience working with oral history transcripts as a basis for the story’s text, what it was like to create a comic with historical accuracy as a primary consideration, and capturing the essence of Daisy Turner’s character.
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Migmar Tsering, Teaching Music During Covid
We asked master artist and musician Migmar Tsering to tell us how he was staying connected to his students during the pandemic. Migmar has lived in Vermont since 2011. He was born in Tibet and was brought up in India. In Vermont he is active as a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and traditional Tibetan dance instructor. In this post, Migmar describes his Covid era challenges and adaptations in his music class.
Maple Sweet Vermont
To mark the 2021 sugaring season we asked Vermont folk singer and apprentice in the current cohort of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Maeve Fairfax to share a rendition of the classic Vermont folk song, Maple Sweet.
Donated collection sees new life in VPR radio program
The Vermont Folklife Center archive holds over 6,000 audio recordings of interviews with Vermonters. Many have been conducted by VFC staff, but the Center also accepts materials donated by others who have conducted ethnographic and oral history research in Vermont and the surrounding region. This is the first in a series of posts that explores the archive through projects donated by outside researchers.
Announcing Turner Family Stories
Turner Family Stories is a forthcoming graphic history collection featuring comics adapted from oral history recordings with Daisy Turner of Grafton, VT held in the VFC archive. VFC founding director Jane Beck and Associate Director and Archivist Andy Kolovos worked with a group of New England cartoonists to illustrate a selection of stories from the epic saga of the Turner family.
Listening in Place: Winter Lights
As we slog through the lingering darkness and await the return of the light, it is no surprise that cultures across the world have long filled this period of the year with festivals, feasting, dance, song and bonfires that emphasize, above almost anything else, the persistence of light. Join us for Listening in Place: Winter Lights, a series of short audio shorts that explore what it means to share light during the darkest time of the year.
Announcing the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program 2020/21 Cohort
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to announce the cohort of master artists and students comprising the 28th year of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). Thirteen projects around the state will be supported this year.
Sound Education - "Listening in Place" in Schools
VFC Education staff is bringing Listening in Place into the classroom. Learn how educators at Hazen Union School in Hardwick, VT are drawing on the tools of audio production and community interviewing as they adapt to teaching and learning in 2020.
Virtual Gingerbread!
This year our Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Exhibit is going virtual! Open to any Vermont resident, bake and build an edible creation and submit photos online to participate in the contest. Prizes will be awarded in multiple categories and photos from each submission will be included in an online exhibit. Pre-registration is required. Register here!
Meet Sasha - VFC's New Director of Education!
The Board and Staff of the Vermont Folklife Center are thrilled to announce the appointment of Alexandra (Sasha) Antohin as the Center’s full-time Director of Education. “I cannot imagine a more qualified person to lead the Center’s education programming to new and exciting places” said Executive Director, Kate Haughey.
Applications Open - Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP)
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to open applications for this year’s Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). Applications are due Aug. 24, 2020.
Vermont Traditional Artists - Staying Connected During Covid
As summer arrives the 2019-2020 cycle of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP) is winding down. We share some highlights from our pre- and post-Covid field visits with artists around the state.