Instrument Repair Apprenticeship, 2021. K.T. Vandyke, left, makes repairs under the watch of master repairman Skip Herman. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Transcending Tradition: A Look Into the History and Future of Virginia Folklife
May 03, 2024 – Jul 07, 2024
Virginia’s folklife refers to the “arts of everyday life” including music, art-making, dance, community storytelling, cooking, crafting, and more. The Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program pairs a master of tradition with an apprentice, ensuring that the diverse creative expressions of the Commonwealth are celebrated, preserved, and passed along to future generations. Since its inception in 2002, more than 120 apprenticeship teams have been supported through the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program.
From making fiddles and singing Appalachian ballads, to learning classical Iranian music and participating in traditional Puerto Rican Dance, the films featured in the Media Lab gallery invite you to step inside the workshops, practice rooms, and studios of more than 30 apprenticeship teams and folklife artists to learn more about these art forms and the communities that sustain them.
EXHIBITION PREVIEW
Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony Apprenticeship, 2021. Lemlem Gebray, left, makes coffee for her daughters Datta and Akeza Seyoum. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Puerto Rican Bomba Dance Apprenticeship, 2022-2023. Margarita “Tata” Cepeda & Isha M Renta López pose following their Richmond Folk Festival 2022 performance. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Patawomeck Eel Pots Apprenticeship, 2022-2023. Brad Hatch, David Onks and Reagan Andersen in the milking shed (a temporary eel pot workshop) at the Patawomeck Museum & Cultural Center. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Gullah-Geechee Gospel Singing Apprenticeship 2022-2023. Alanjha Harris, center, performs as Beth while her mentor B.J. Lark, right, backs her up during a performance of “Kuzaliwa,” a Black Nativity play written by director B.J. Lark, at the Petersburg Public Library on 12/17/22. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Instrument Repair Apprenticeship 2021. K.T. Vandyke, left, makes repairs under the watch of master repairman Skip Herman. Photo courtesy of Pat Jarrett/Virginia Humanities.
Transcending Tradition is a compilation of the following films
Total run time 1 hour 48 minutes
Bernadette “B.J.” Lark and Alanjha Harris | Gullah-Geechee Gospel Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (8:48)*
Filmed by Pat Jarrett. Edited by Pruitt Allen with Pat Jarrett. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett.
Chris Testerman, Karlie Keepfer and Sophia Burnett | Instrument Building Apprenticeship| 2022 | (6:55)*
Daniel Smith and Richard Maxham | Violin Building and Repair Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (8:06)*
Filmed and edited by Pat Jarrett. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett.
D. Brad Hatch, Reagan Andersen, and David Onks IV | Patawomeck Eel Pots Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (7:24)*
Filmed by Denis Levkovich. Edited by Nina Wilder with Katy Clune. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett.
Diablada Dance | Fundacion Socio Cultural Diablada | Virgencita del Socavon Carnival | 2024 | (2:30)
Video by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett
Earl White jam at Big Indian Farm, Floyd County, Virginia | “Never Been So Lonely” | June 26, 2021 | (5:19)
Produced by Pat Jarrett.
Eddie Bond | 2018 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow | (5:32)
Elizabeth LaPrelle and Elsa Howell | Appalachian Ballads Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (8:05)*
Filmed and edited by Pat Jarrett. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett
Horace Scruggs, Hannah Scruggs & Niya Bates | Reclaiming the River | Black Waterways Apprenticeship | 2021 | (12:08)
Produced by the apprenticeship team.
Jessie Lovell and Evelyn Farmer | “Caty Sage” | 1991 | (5:29)
Recorded in 1990 and 1991 by Garry Barrow (with Michelle Branigan)
Kazem Davoudian and Alexander Sabet | Persian Tar Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (8:04)*
Filmed by Denis Levkovich. Edited by Denis Levkovich with Katy Clune. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett.
Lemlem Gebray and Datta and Akeza Seyoum | Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony Apprenticeship | 2021 | (7:37)*
Lelis Garcia Olaes and Ken Garcia Olaes | Filipino Baking Apprenticeship | In Good Keeping 2022 | (6:54)*
Margarita “Tata” Cepeda & Isha M Renta López | Puerto Rican Bomba Dance Apprenticeship | 2022-23 | (7:18)*
Filmed by Mariana Núñez Lozada and Pat Jarrett. Edited by Albert Tong with Katy Clune. Directed by Katy Clune and Pat Jarrett.
Walter “Skip” Herman and K.T. Vandyke | Instrument Repair Apprenticeship | In Good Keeping 2022 | (7:49)*
Yara Cordeiro and Ruthie Lezama | Capoeira Apprenticeship | In Good Keeping 2022 | (6:55)*
*Produced by the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts with additional support from the J & E Berkley Foundation.
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