Appalshop Notes

Seedtime on the Cumberland 2009 is set for June 11 through 13 on the Appalshop grounds and inside the Appalshop in downtown Whitesburg. Schedule and tickets are now available online at appalshop.org/seedtime.

Seedtime features music, film screenings, jamming, picking contests, gallery exhibits, literary readings, nature hikes, craft and food vendors, and, for the first time, the Carcassonne square dance. Seedtime 2009 also starts the celebration of Appalshop's 40th anniversary, and we've invited a lot of folks from throughout Appalshop's history, including many musicians from the June Appal Recordings label.

This year's performances will include John McCutcheon, Ginny Hawker, Kay Justice & Tracy Schwarz, Ras Alan, Wayne Henderson, Jeni & Billy, Sparky & Rhonda Rucker, Roger Cooper, Turbo Pro Project, Jim & Ada McCown with Paul Smith, The Elkville String Band, Brett Ratliff, Paula Larke, Lee Sexton, Rich & the Po' Folks, and The Cowan Creek Pick and Bow All-Stars.

Thursday night with Wayne Henderson, The Elkville String Band, and the debut of Shawn Lind's Appalshop film about Wayne, From Wood to Singing Guitar, will feature free admission for all.

Appalshop's Roadside Theater will receive an Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theatre on May 17th in New York. The Otto Awards were established in 1998 to recognize and support the ongoing development of political theatre internationally. Previous recipients include The San Francisco Mime Troupe, The Bread and Puppet Theatre, Robert Wilson, and El Teatro Campesino. Dudley Cocke will accept the award during afternoon activities which include a luncheon, panel discussion with recipients, the Awards ceremony, and reception.

The Los Angeles Poverty Department, led by John Malpede who produced RFK in EKY with Appalshop, will also receive a 2009 Otto. The Otto Awards Committee includes such luminaries as Laurie Anderson, Linda Parris-Bailey, Rhodessa Jones, and Kathleen Chalfant. All events will take place at the Castillo Theatre's All Stars Project Performing Arts & Development Center, located at 543 West 42nd Street. For more information or tickets to the ceremony, please contact the Castillo Box Office at 212-941-1234 or boxoffice@castillo.org.

Tom Hansell and Mimi Pickering at UVA-Wise

Tom Hansell and Mimi Pickering will be screening films during Earth Week on the University of Virginia's Wise campus. Mimi will screen Buffalo Creek Flood on April 22nd at 5:00 PM and Tom will be screening The Electricity Fairy on April 23rd, from 7 to 10:00 PM. Both presentations are sponsored by the Clinch Coalition.

Anne Lewis at the Left Forum

Anne Lewis will be part of a panel discussion "Classy Documentaries About Class Struggle" at the Left Forum on April 18th with George Stoney, Peter Miller, and moderator Barbara Garson.

Anne will also talk about Appalshop's work at Stoney's "Documentary Traditions" class on April 20th.

Athens International Film and Video Festival

Morristown: In the Air and Sun will screen at the Athens International Film and Video Festival. The date for the screening has not been determined yet.

WMMT's Spring fund drive wrapped up March 16, bringing to a close a week of on-air fundraising. WMMT supporters exceeded our goal of $30,000 despite a much shorter pledge drive time. Our thanks to all of WMMT's listeners who make it possible to produce mountain community radio at Appalshop.

The spring 2009 Bluegrass Express Live series will conclude with two of the most popular bands in bluegrass: Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out on May 7 and Dailey & Vincent on June 4. For reservations call 606-633-0108.

With the generous support of the Letcher County Fiscal Court, Representative Leslie Combs, Senator Johnny Ray Turner, and, Appalshop is proceeding with our theater renovation project using coal severance funds. The project has benefited greatly from the donation of seating from Michael Solomon of Wise, Virginia. The first stage, repairing and upgrading the audience seating, will begin shortly after the Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out Bluegrass Express Live concert on May 7 and be completed prior to the BGX Live with Dailey & Vincent on June 4. We shall complete the installation of new lighting, sound, and projection equipment and the renovation of the restrooms by June 30.

Although Appalshop's 40th birthday is not until October, Appalshop at 40 activities have been underway since Fall 2008:

• Appalshop screened a number of films and presented a panel on our history at the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting
• November brought the spectacular restaging celebration for Roadside's Betsy at Teatro Pregones in the Bronx
• In February Appalshop was featured in a workshop on cultural organizations at mid-age at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Memphis. Roadside's Dudley Cocke and Appalshop Director Art Menius also presented a program on the Voices from the Cultural Battlefront movement there
• A standing room only audience of 42 enjoyed the Appalshop at 40 seminar at the Appalachian Studies Conference at Shawnee State University on March 27. Art facilitated a panel consisting of Herb e, Mimi, Rich, Tom, Bill Turner, and Jack Wright
• Seedtime on the Cumberland in June will be the first of two annual festivals celebrating Appalshop's rich cultural traditions
• Appalshop has also been invited to create a unique Saturday night keynote program for the Oral History Association annual conference this October in Louisville.

The concept for Appalshop at 40 is partners and supporters celebrating Appalshop's birthday. The program will run through October 2010. It shall not end then, however. This will not be a mere series of birthday parties but a program with lasting impact in the form of enhanced relations with our institutional and individual partners and the creation of programs that will build on these relationships. During 2010 many of you will be able to enjoy events in partnership with important cultural and education institutions in the USA, such as Berea College, UNC-CH, and Appalachian State University. Stay tuned to Appalshop Notes and the Appalshop website for details.

As an Appalshop supporter you too can join the celebration by creating your own event - please contact Art Menius, Director, if you are interested in hosting an Appalshop 40th anniversary event in your community. Whether simple or elaborate, these provide a great way to have a lot of fun while raising money for Appalshop. One example would be hosting an Appalshop house party. Art would be pleased as punch to work with you in crafting such an event that could include a film screening and Art talking about Appalshop's work. On the other hand, we would work together on a larger event in a public forum or a group immersion in Whitesburg. The only limit is our own creativity.

Appalshop continues to attract an extraordinary array of visitors to Whitesburg. Groups recently finding their way to Appalshop include Maine's Bee Hive Collective, the Executive Leadership Institute of the Forum of Black Public Administrators, and a tour group of national KFTC supporters lead by Christy Brown and Owsley Brown II. March also brought the most heavily attended annual event at Appalshop other than Seedtime, the annual Extension Service seed giveaway program to low income families.

The first week of June will bring a tour of philanthropic travelers, largely from the west coast of the USA, to Appalshop for a intense immersion in eastern Kentucky and the work of AMI. If you are interested in joining this extraordinary experience, contact Exquisite Safaris's David Chamberlain.