Podcasts about appalachian center

For fiber artist Aaron McIntosh, quilting is an act of defiant documentation. Growing up in an Appalachian family with a generations-deep tradition of quilting, he learned the craft as a boy and went on to develop his own ethos and mission, studying first at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee and then earning his MFA at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.In recent years, Aaron has placed his own personal history and metaphorical body into fabric sculptures that blend his familial and cultural background with his identity as a queer Appalachian artist. His work has been exhibited in a variety of institutions, from the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the Toledo Museum of Art to Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul. In 2015, he started the “Invasive Queer Kudzu” project, a community storytelling, archiving and art-making project focusing on queer communities, past and present, in America's Southeast. In this interview, Aaron, who is currently an associate professor at Concordia University in Montreal, describes why and how he claimed the South's most notorious weed as his artistic inspiration and clears up any misconceptions about the fiber arts ever having taken a back seat to other fine arts throughout human history.https://aaronmcintosh.com/home.html

Calling Robert Gipe an author or novelist is a bit like calling Neil deGrasse Tyson a YouTuber. Yes, Robert wrote a widely praised self-illustrated trilogy of novels — “Trampoline,” “Weedeater” and “Pop” — that follows the travails of a young woman growing up in rural Appalachia. He completed that authorly feat, however, after decades working as an educator, community builder and theater-maker in and around Harlan, KY, where he continues to reside.Originally from Kingsport, TN, Robert moved to Southeastern Kentucky in the late '90s after receiving his master's in American studies at the University of Massachusetts. Initially he worked in marketing and fundraising for the legendary community media organization Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY and then became a professor and program coordinator of the Appalachian Center at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College in Cumberland. Soon thereafter he created Higher Ground, a community theater organization that since 2002 has created and produced plays with and for the community on local topics ranging from opioid addiction to environmental degradation.In this candid interview, Robert describes the challenges of encouraging community-wide fellowship in a politically divisive era and celebrates the role of art and artists in creating safe spaces for people of all stripes to celebrate their authentic selves.https://www.robertgipe.com/

I had such a great time catching up with Phyllis Light in this conversation! Hearing Phyllis' unique herbal story and her philosophy about herbs and herbalism was a real treat. Plus, she shared such an abundance of information about sumac and its medicinal gifts that I am inspired to start working more with this amazing plant!Phyllis shared so many ways to work with sumac, including her recipe for Sumac Elderberry Syrup (along with several suggestions of how to use that syrup). You can download a beautifully illustrated recipe card for Phyllis' syrup here.You will be amazed at the many medicinal gifts that sumac has to offer! Here are just a few ways that you can work with sumac to benefit your health:► As a topical remedy for skin issues like fungal rashes and poison ivy► To help reduce high blood sugar► As a cooling summer beverage that is high in Vitamin CAnd that's just the tip of the iceberg! I was delighted to learn just how many health challenges can benefit from this incredibly versatile plant. Be sure to tune in to the entire episode for all the details!By the end of this episode, you'll know:► How herbalism and human health have changed in the United States since Phyllis began her herbal journey► How to distinguish poison sumac from other species of sumac► How to tell if your dried sumac berries are still medicinally active► Eighteen - yes, eighteen! - health conditions sumac's gifts can help with, and six different herbal preparations for sumac► Why it's so important to move beyond internet searches when learning about a new plant or herbal treatment► and so much more…For those of you who don't know her, Phyllis D. Light, a fourth generation herbalist and healer, has studied and worked with herbs, foods, and other healing techniques for over 30 years. Her studies in Traditional Southern Folk Medicine began in the deep woods of North Alabama with lessons from her grandmother, whose herbal and healing knowledge had its roots in her Creek/Cherokee heritage. Phyllis' studies continued as an apprentice with the late Tommie Bass, a nationally renowned folk herbalist from Sand Rock, Alabama. She is the director of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health in Arab, Alabama, which offers both online classes and in-person classes. She is also on the faculty of the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism. Phyllis is the author of Southern Folk Medicine, Healing Traditions from Appalachian Fields and Forests published by North Atlantic.If you'd like to hear more from Phyllis, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card at: https://bit.ly/4bHb64Y.I can't wait to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone...

Mark DeJong - Off Grid MedicDeJong retired Nationally-Registered Paramedic and founder of Off Grid Medic LLC, has over 30 years of experience in treating victims of trauma and sudden illness. Based out of South Carolina, Mark has a degree in Emergency Medical Services and holds an Advanced Wilderness EMT certification. As part of a military assignment, he spent two years providing remote medical care to the indigenous people of the Philippines, where his passions for medicine and primitive living fused together. He serves on the Advisory Council at the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine, and has trained alongside elite members of the US Army and the US Marshals Service. Mark has served in several roles including field Paramedic, Field Training Officer, Director of Emergency Medical Services for a rural government EMS system, faculty at the Technical College System of Georgia, and Deputy Director of Emergency Management for a government agency. He considers himself a lifelong learner and, when not immersed in medical material, Mark continues to hone his outdoor skills. He is a proud graduate of the Pathfinder Advanced program and an original member of the Flint and Steel Primitive Skills Group. Mark has appeared on The Weather Channel, where he was featured on the series Uncharted Adventure. His teaching style is very interactive and informal, and he frequently uses personal experiences and humor to reinforce his material. Tune in as Mark DeJong Groff joins Bobby Marshall in the studio to discuss Off Gid Medic, saving lives, wildernesses first aid, wildernesses first responders, medics, flight paramedics, awareness, safety, how to identify common medical problems, and so much more. Please subscribe or like us on social media platforms for updates on shows, events, and episode drops. Sponsor Links:www.JockoFuel.comMountain Side listeners receive 10% off all Jocko Fuel products! Use Code TMS10 to save. www.ONNIT.comMountain Side listeners use Discount code TMS to receive 10% off ONNIT products! www.BulletProof.comMountain Side listeners Use Discounts code: MOUNTAINSIDE to receive 20% off all Bulletproof products! Other Affiliates Links

Join Rosemary Gladstar as she invites herbal elders to share the stories of their journey into the lush world of plants in these Inner-Views.This episode of "Voices of our Herbal Elders" brings you an intimate conversation with Phyllis Light, a revered herbalist whose deep roots in Southern folk medicine illuminate her profound connection with the healing power of plants. Born into a lineage of herbalists, Phyllis carries the wisdom of her Creek/Cherokee heritage, blending it with her extensive knowledge acquired over more than four decades in natural health and healing. As the founder and director of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health, Phyllis has dedicated her life to educating others about the efficacy and sanctity of traditional herbalism, sharing insights that bridge the past with the present to inspire future generations of herbalists.I hope you enjoy this Inner-View! If you do, please share this episode with others!The Voices of our Herbal Elders Inner-Views are available to watch on The Science & Art of Herbalism YouTube channel.

Talking Out Your Glass podcast kicks off 2024 with our first episode of Season 9! This  fascinating panel discussion on flameworking features four of the technique's most well-known artists: Paul Stankard, Carmen Lozar, Dan Coyle aka coylecondenser and Trina Weintraub. At different points in their careers, these four artists compare and contrast their journeys and experiences working glass behind the torch.  Considered a living master in the art of the paperweight, Paul Stankard's work is represented in more than 75 museums around the world. Over his 52-year artistic journey, he has received two honorary doctorate degrees, an honorary associate's degree, and many awards within the glass community, including the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian's The James Renwick Alliance and the Glass Art Society's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a Fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the UrbanGlass Award—Innovation in a Glassworking Technique.   Stankard's current exhibition From Flame to Flower: The Art of Paul J. Stankard can be seen at the Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey, now through February 4. A documentary film titled Paul J. Stankard: Flower and Flame by award-winning filmmaker Dan Collins, premiers on January 31. On March 16, the film will be shown at Salem County Community College, Carney's Point, New Jersey, at the International Flameworking Conference, presented there by Collins. Born in 1975, Carmen Lozar lives in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, where she maintains a studio and is a member of the art faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. She has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass School, Appalachian Center for Crafts, The Chrysler Museum, and the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. She has had residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass and Penland School of Craft. Although she travels abroad to teach and share her love for glass – most recently to Turkey, Italy, and New Zealand – she always returns to her Midwestern roots. Lozar is represented by the Ken Saunders Gallery in Chicago, and her work is included in the permanent collection at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin. Besides continuing her work at Illinois Wesleyan University, Lozar will be teaching workshops at UrbanGlass, June 4 – 8, 2024, and at Ox Bow School of Craft, Saugatuck, Michigan, August 4 – 10, 2024. Menacing monkeys. Peeled bananas. Bad-tempered bears. Uniquely original Munnies. Daniel S. Coyle's whimsical, toy-inspired aesthetic in concert with mind-blowing skills on the torch have earned the artist a hefty 116K following on Instagram. The artist recently celebrated 12 years of being a full-time pipe maker. Coyle's work has been displayed in galleries around the world, and has been seen in print and web publications including Vice, Huffington Post, NY Times, and in the books This Is A Pipe and his self-published Munny Project book. Now residing in Western Massachusetts, he works alongside some of the state's top pipe makers. Coyle's 2024 events include: Community Bonfire (Maine), January 27; Michigan Glass Project, June 21 – 23: two-week intensive class at Corning Studios, Corning, New York, June 24 – July 5; Parlay Philly in September TBA; and Bad Boyz Do Basel 3 (Miami), September TBA. Creating playful objects and curious scenes inspired by childhood memories and dreams, Caterina Weintraub uses glass, a fragile and heavy material, to recreate iconic toys or re-imagine personal memories that evoke a sense of sentiment, wonder and discomfort. She utilizes a variety of techniques to create sculptures and installations in her Boston-based studio, Fiamma Glass. From intricate torch work to large-scale kiln castings and hot blown pieces, she chooses the process best suited to realize her vision. In 2024, Weintraub will participate in Habatat's Glass Coast Weekend, Sarasota, Florida, February 1 – 4; Glass52, International Glass Show, Habatat Gallery, Royal Oak, Michigan, May 5 – September 6; and the International Glass Show, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana, December 2 – February 18.  Enjoy this panel discussion about how these four artists crafted careers using the techniques and appeal of flameworking and where the process is headed into the next decade and beyond.     

    Cade Smith was born at a very early age in Pensacola, Florida. Upon moving to Tennessee in 1999 at the age of 5, he began to explore many art and craft activities and finally found his way to The Appalachian Center for Art, Craft and Design at Tennessee Technological University, where he studied Fiber Arts and graduated in May 2020, virtually... Cade wandered into an interesting looking store in an industrial strip mall in August 2022, and in May 2023 he purchased that company and has continued to grow The Curtain Call into one of the premier drapery workrooms in Nashville, TN. When Cade is not making drapery, installing drapery or doing paperwork related to drapery, he spends his time in the country with his horses and dogs. Cade wishes to impart to you his daily affirmation: May your hems be right, and your seams be tight, namaste. You can find The Curtain Call on Facebook and Instagram. Links and Resources; Custom Workroom Conference Wolff Industries   The Sew Much More Podcast is sponsored by;   The Workroom Channel   Scarlet Thread Consulting   The WCAA   The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library   Merril Y Landis, LTD   Angel's Distributing, LLC   National Upholstery Association   Workroom Tech    

Hey everyone! I'm recording this intro after a brief but admittedly scary stint of time stuck indoors yet again, being warned to stay home due to the quality of air pollution from the recent Canadian wildfire. Meanwhile, I'm super excited to introduce my next guest, who highlights how we can become stewards of the land as herbalists, and showcases how she grew her brand from scratch to a full-blown success story.   Lauren Haynes is the founder and CEO of Wooden Spoon Herbs, a small-batch herbal apothecary brand that offers herbal tinctures, teas and tonics that act as a conduit for plant medicine.  Founded in 2014, Lauren has grown Wooden Spoon Herbs into a go-to resource for farm-fresh herbal remedies.    Lauren studied at the Appalachian Center for Natural Health under fifth-generation herbalist Phyllis D. Light. Driven by her desire to introduce more people to herbalism, Lauren started Wooden Spoon Herbs in the farmer's market, crafting products based on the most common concerns she saw. The brand, which has celeb fans like Jessica Alba and Alanis Morrisette, supports a farm-direct supply chain and sources only organic ingredients. Their popular Rose-Colored Glasses tincture has sold out 5 times and is also sold on Goop.   Lauren now has over ten years of experience as a clinical herbalist. Through her herbalist education and practice, Lauren merges functional formations with lifestyle products that appeal to wellness enthusiasts and newcomers alike.  

Hey everyone! I'm recording this intro after a brief but admittedly scary stint of time stuck indoors yet again, being warned to stay home due to the quality of air pollution from the recent Canadian wildfire. Meanwhile, I'm super excited to introduce my next guest, who highlights how we can become stewards of the land as herbalists, and showcases how she grew her brand from scratch to a full-blown success story. Lauren Haynes is the founder and CEO of Wooden Spoon Herbs, a small-batch herbal apothecary brand that offers herbal tinctures, teas and tonics that act as a conduit for plant medicine. Founded in 2014, Lauren has grown Wooden Spoon Herbs into a go-to resource for farm-fresh herbal remedies. Lauren studied at the Appalachian Center for Natural Health under fifth-generation herbalist Phyllis D. Light. Driven by her desire to introduce more people to herbalism, Lauren started Wooden Spoon Herbs in the farmer's market, crafting products based on the most common concerns she saw. The brand, which has celeb fans like Jessica Alba and Alanis Morrisette, supports a farm-direct supply chain and sources only organic ingredients. Their popular Rose-Colored Glasses tincture has sold out 5 times and is also sold on Goop. Lauren now has over ten years of experience as a clinical herbalist. Through her herbalist education and practice, Lauren merges functional formations with lifestyle products that appeal to wellness enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Check out Wooden Spoon Herbs at: woodenspoonherbs.com IG: @woodenspoonherbs Visit https://marinabuksov.com for more content. Music from https://www.purple-planet.com. Disclaimer: Statements herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.

On this episode of Why Make? we talk with Kim Winkle, an arts administrator full time teacher and artist. Kim is a Professor of Art and the Director of the School of Art, Craft & Design at Tennessee Technological University's Appalachian Center for Craft. A native of Oklahoma Kim holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma. She then started her MFA in ceramics at San Diego State University but during her first year was persuaded to take a class in the Applied Design, Furniture and Woodworking program then headed by Wendy Maruyama. Where she then earned her MFA in furniture design. Winkle's work is well known for the elaborate surface markings she uses on her colorful turned and carved forms that she somehow finds time to make while being director of the Appalachian Center for Craft and maintaining a busy teaching schedule. Please join us as we find out what inspires maker Kim Winkle!

Today's discussion is with Lauren Haynes, founder of Wooden Spoon Herbs, a company providing products and education to help you build your routine of herbal support. Lauren's goal is to make earth-grown, time-tested herbal formulas accessible for the health of ourselves and our planet. In this conversation, we discuss Lauren's background in Appalachia and her education as an herbalist, the challenges of regulations around herbal products, educating consumers about product use, and the role of herbalism in healing the broken relationship between humans and earth. Topics Discussed: Lauren's journey to Wooden Spoon Herbs How Lauren was first drawn to herbalism The issue of compliance in the utilization of herbalism  The Appalachian Center for Natural Health Phyllis D. Light Green Comfort School of Herbal Medicine Candice Pert, Your Body is Your Subconscious Mind Molecules of Emotion Herbalism is NOT a replacement for professional health care, but it can be a compliment What is unique about Wooden Spoon Herbs The challenge of regulations around herbal products and education The DSHEA Act Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act  Wooden Spoon Herbs sourcing Lauren's background growing up in Appalachia Isaias Hernandez @queerbrownvegan The role of herbalism in healing the broken relationship between humans and earth How can slow living be accessible to everyone? Stephanie O'Dea Jessie Inchauspe @theglucosegoddess @tartvinegar Connect with Lauren: @woodenspoonherbs on Instagram Wooden Spoon Herbs Website This Episode is Sponsored by Ettitude: ettitude.com/thegooddirt ^Use code THEGOODDIRT for $25 off your first order! About Lady Farmer: Our Website @weareladyfarmer on Instagram Join The Lady Farmer ALMANAC Leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you! Email us at thegooddirtpodcast@gmail.com Original music by John Kingsley. Our technical partner for this series is CitizenRacecar, Post-Production by Alex Brouwer and José Miguel Baez, Coordinated by Gabriela Montequin and Mary Ball. The Good Dirt is a part of the Connectd Podcasts Network. Statements in this podcast have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not to be considered as medical or nutritional advice. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and should not be considered above the advice of your physician. Consult a medical professional when making dietary or lifestyle decisions that could affect your health and well-being.

Today's discussion is with Lauren Haynes, founder of Wooden Spoon Herbs, a company providing products and education to help you build your routine of herbal support. Lauren's goal is to make earth-grown, time-tested herbal formulas accessible for the health of ourselves and our planet. In this conversation, we discuss Lauren's background in Appalachia and her education as an herbalist, the challenges of regulations around herbal products, educating consumers about product use, and the role of herbalism in healing the broken relationship between humans and earth. Topics Discussed: Lauren's journey to Wooden Spoon Herbs How Lauren was first drawn to herbalism The issue of compliance in the utilization of herbalism  The Appalachian Center for Natural Health Phyllis D. Light Green Comfort School of Herbal Medicine Candice Pert, Your Body is Your Subconscious Mind Molecules of Emotion Herbalism is NOT a replacement for professional health care, but it can be a compliment What is unique about Wooden Spoon Herbs The challenge of regulations around herbal products and education The DSHEA Act Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act  Wooden Spoon Herbs sourcing Lauren's background growing up in Appalachia Isaias Hernandez @queerbrownvegan The role of herbalism in healing the broken relationship between humans and earth How can slow living be accessible to everyone? Stephanie O'Dea Jessie Inchauspe @theglucosegoddess @tartvinegar Connect with Lauren: @woodenspoonherbs on Instagram Wooden Spoon Herbs Website This Episode is Sponsored by Ettitude: ettitude.com/thegooddirt ^Use code THEGOODDIRT for $25 off your first order! About Lady Farmer: Our Website @weareladyfarmer on Instagram Join The Lady Farmer ALMANAC Leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you! Email us at thegooddirtpodcast@gmail.com Original music by John Kingsley. Our technical partner for this series is CitizenRacecar, Post-Production by Alex Brouwer and José Miguel Baez, Coordinated by Gabriela Montequin and Mary Ball. The Good Dirt is a part of the Connectd Podcasts Network. Statements in this podcast have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not to be considered as medical or nutritional advice. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and should not be considered above the advice of your physician. Consult a medical professional when making dietary or lifestyle decisions that could affect your health and well-being.

Ellie Richards is a furniture designer and sculptor interested in the role the furniture and domestic objects play in creating opportunities for a deeper connection between people and their sense of place. Ellie looks to the tradition of both woodworking and the readymade to create eclectic assemblage, installation, and objects exploring intersections of labor, leisure, community, and culture. She has traveled extensively to investigate the role play and improvisation have on the artistic process. Her work, both furniture and sculpture, has been included in exhibitions at the Mint Museum; Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design; SOFA Chicago; and the Society of Contemporary Craft. Most recently Richards was awarded Windgate residencies at the Center for Art in Wood, and in the wood/furniture design programs at San Diego State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Additionally, she maintains an active teaching schedule sharing the fundamentals of woodworking and artistic practice with a breadth of audience including appointments at Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Appalachian Center for Craft, and Haystack Mountain School of Craft.  She is currently a resident artist at Penland School of Craft 2020-2023. You may follow along with Ellie on Instagram and her website. Follow along with the Podcast on Instagram.

The Act Out - S01E12 - Chris Hopkins Duck sits down with Chris Hopkins to talk about getting started in comedy, his time doing MMA, playing Football, and what it takes to be a comedian. Listen on your favorite Podcast App: Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Itunes. Just search "The Improv Tx Comedy Network" Listen Now on Podbean: https://improvtx.podbean.com/e/the-act-out-s01e12-chris-hopkins/ Listen Now on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtyYvq2AH0E Bio: A native of Columbus, Ohio, Chris Hopkins, a feature comic, began his stand-up comedy career in Chattanooga, TN in 2017.  Chris leaned on his previous performing experience and hit the ground running and was soon performing at the Laughing Skull in Atlanta and hosting at the Comedy Catch and Improv Chattanooga, in Chattanooga, TN.  He has also performed at The Improv in Addison, TX, 423 Social in Bristol, TN, The Appalachian Center for the Arts in Pikeville, KY and SkyZoo in Chattanooga.  Chris has earned the opportunity to open for Donnie Baker, Mick Foley, and Landry among other comedians. Chris' comedy runs the gamut of real life going from racial candles to receiving a prostate exam from an NBA Legend.  He looks at Katt Williams, Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle as influences from the world of comedy, but draws just as much inspiration from friends, family and every day life. Chris is also has acting and voice acting credits, appearing on Cable TV and radio morning shows across the country.  Currently based out of Dallas, TX, Chris is available and eager to travel anywhere in the U.S. to perform. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrishopkinscomedian Twitter: https://twitter.com/comedianhop Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_hopkins027/?hl=en About the Addison Improv: Tired of going to dinner & a movie? Change it up with a night at the Addison Improv! It's the perfect place for a date night, birthday, Bachelor/Bachelorette party...all together a good ol' time! Ticket prices may vary, depending on the comedian.  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AddisonImprov Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/addisonimprov/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AddisonImprov TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@improvaddison #theimprovtxcomedynetwork #standupcomedy #laugh #joke #laughter #jokes #standupcomedian #comedian #standup #funny #humor #podcast #fun #memes #lol #hilarious #viral #comedyshorts #haha #improv #addisonimprov #arlingtonimprov #houstonimprov #chicagoimprov #sanantoniolol

There is a strong relationship between the land and our interior landscapes. When we are connected to the land, we're connected to ourselves, and one another.Hillary will share how art can be a bridge helping us to reconnect with land, ourselves, and our Ancestral lineages, ultimately helping to re-weave ourselves into the web of life. She will discuss her own creations which bring together materials and processes that express the union of humanity and the physical world. Hillary states, “Stitching, like agriculture, can be functional-- a technical solution to join materials/a means of survival-- or, both can be done purely in service of the soul, lifting the spirit through beauty and wonder.”Hillary Waters Fayle is an Artist and Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she directs the fiber/textile program. She has previously taught at the Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), Penland School of Craft (NC), the Mediterranean Art & Design Program (Italy) and Yasar University (Turkey) and was recently awarded residencies at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (VA) and Bazart Textile (France). Her work is in the permanent collections of the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY, United States Embassy to Sri Lanka, Colombo, the Kalmthout Arboretum & Botanical Gardens in Belgium and the US Embassy in Tangiers, Algeria. Recent professional projects include collaborations with Grace Farms Foundation (Ct), Thoreau Farms Trust (Ma), Domestika (Spain), L'Occitane en Provence (Switzerland), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France), and the New York Botanical Garden. A public installation in collaboration with the AKG Museum can be seen year round in Buffalo, NY. More information and images of Hillary's work can be found here on ONE's website. Support the show

Welcome to Season 2! Join Ryan & Peyton in conversation with Leah Wilson, Coordinator of Civic Life at the Appalachian Center for Civic Life at Emory & Henry College. Produced by Meg Askew Intro by Colton Williams

Strong. Calm. Serene. So are the vessels of Sonja Blomdahl. In an industrial neighborhood near Seattle's Lake Union, the artist turned loose her vivid colors into the unsuspecting gray of her spacious cinderblock and cement studio. If a Scandinavian flavor is detected in the hue of her celestial orbs, it is by chance as she credits rainy Seattle as her primary inspiration. But Blomdahl is in fact of Swedish descent, leaving some collectors of her work to wonder if the Scandinavian sense of style and design is in her blood.  After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in ceramics, Blomdahl studied at Orrefors Glass School in Sweden for six months, providing her with a solid background in efficiently handling her material. Upon arrival at the glass factory in 1976, she had $300 in her pocket. When her apprenticeship was over and in need of cash, Blomdahl went to work as a cleaning woman in a Swedish hospital to finance trips to Italy and the British Isles. Back in Massachusetts, she blew glass in a New Hampshire studio for nine months until Dan Dailey, a former teacher at Mass Art, invited her to be his teaching assistant at Pilchuck.  Three weeks at Pilchuck in the summer of 1978 proved to be a pivotal time in Blomdahl's career, for it was there that she viewed the Italian master Checco Ongaro demonstrate the double bubble or incalmo technique. She honed this process over the next two years while working at the Glass Eye Studio in Seattle and teaching glassblowing at Pratt Fine Arts Center. After her first exhibition at Traver in 1981, Blomdahl stopped working at the Glass Eye, bought a three-month Euro Rail pass and traveled around Europe. There, she had the opportunity to produce new work in Ann Wolff's studio in Sweden – a wonderful experience that further entrenched Blomdahl's desire to establish her own hotshop. She shipped the work made there back to Seattle and had a second sell-out show at Traver, allowing her to build a studio in 1982, where she worked for the next 25 years. Currently on view in Venice and American Studio Glass, curated by Tina Oldknow and William Warmus, Blomdahl's work was the focus of solo exhibitions at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, Alabama; Martha's Vineyard Glassworks, West Tisbury, Massachusetts; and the William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, Washington. Permanent installations and collections include American Craft Museum, New York, New York; Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas; Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; and Kitazawa Contemporary Glass Museum, Kitazawa, Japan, to name a few. She has held teaching positions at Pratt Fine Arts Center, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, and the Appalachian Center in Smithville, Tennessee.  Blomdahl's focus has been the vessel. She states: “In the vessel, I find the form to be of primary importance. It holds the space. In a sense, the vessel is a history of my breath: It contains the volume within. If I have done things correctly, the profile of the piece is a continuous curve; the shape is full, and the opening confident. Color is often the joy in making a piece. I want the colors to glow and react with each other. The clear band between the colors acts as an optic lens; it moves the color around and allows you to see into the piece. The relationship between form, color, proportion, and process intrigued me.”  

This week's THINK HUMANITIES podcast features the Appalachian Center for the Arts. Host Bill Goodman talks to Robin Irwin, Erick Buckley, and Jessica Mullins from Center about their programming and Jessica's recent role as Effie Waller Smith. THINK HUMANITIES is made possible by generous support from the Spalding University School of Writing.

In this Episode I get to speak with Bladesmith and Forged In Fire Champion, Jay Replogle! It was so great speaking to Jay! He's such a fun and Intelligent guy and I really enjoyed just hanging out with him and getting to know him more. We spoke about him teaching at the Appalachian Center for Crafts, his recent achievement of becoming a Journeyman Smith with the American Bladesmith Society and what it takes to accomplish that and the importance of being a part of the ABS, his passion for bladesmithing and why it means so much to him, and of course winning Forged In Fire and how that opportunity came about(as well a great behind the scenes story)! Jay finally takes on My Questions of Torture and Awesomeness! Thanks Jay for speaking with me and thanks to all of my Peeps for your support.

On this special episode of Smoky Mountain Air, guest hosts Dr. William Turner and Dr. Ted Olson kick off an exciting new mini-series called Sepia Tones: Exploring Black Appalachian Music. Guests Loyal Jones, Sparky Rucker, and James Leva contribute to this lively conversation about the roots of Appalachian music and their own roles in preserving these musical influences.Loyal Jones served as director of the Appalachian Center now named in his honor at Berea College. He established the annual festival of traditional music at Berea and the Appalachian Sound Archive. Jones is the author of numerous books of regional interest.Sparky Rucker grew up in Knoxville, TN, and has become an internationally recognized folk singer, musician, and storyteller. He has been an educator, performer, and social activist and has been involved in the Civil Rights movement since the 1950s.James Leva is a multi-instrumentalist playing the fiddle, guitar, and banjo, and he’s a singer and songwriter. His work with The Lost Tribe of Country Music transcends racial and generational boundaries as well as musical genres.Dr. William Turner is a long-time African American studies scholar who first rose to prominence as co-editor of the groundbreaking Blacks in Appalachia (1985). He was also a research assistant to Roots author Alex Haley. Turner retired as distinguished professor of Appalachian Studies and regional ambassador at Berea College. His memoir called The Harlan Renaissance is forthcoming from West Virginia University Press in 2021.Dr. Ted Olson is a professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University and the author of many books, articles, reviews, encyclopedia entries, and oral histories. Olson has produced and compiled a number of documentary albums of traditional Appalachian music including GSMA’s On Top of Old Smoky and Big Bend Killing. He’s received a number of awards in his work as a music historian, including seven Grammy nominations.Music selections in this episode:“John Henry” performed by Amythyst Kiah and Roy Andrade from GSMA's Big Bend Killing (https://www.smokiesinformation.org/big-bend-killing-the-appalachian-ballad-tradition-2-disk-cd)“Careless Love” performed on guitar by Etta Baker, used courtesy of Berea Sound Archive (https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/2455)“Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss” performed by Ali Farka Touré with Lee Sexton and others from an informal gathering at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, used courtesy of Bryan Wright of Rivermont Records“We Shall (We Will) Overcome” from the Highlander Collection of the Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC Chapel Hill; used courtesy of the  Septima Clark Learning Center at Highlander Center (https://youtu.be/5YkTUeFViUY)“Come Sit By My Side Little Darlin’” performed by Bill Livers, Berea Sound Archive (https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/6937)“Jola Gambia” performed by Daniel Jatta and the Lost Tribe of Country Music, used courtesy of James Leva (https://soundcloud.com/raisin-music/akonting)“My Home’s Across the Smoky Mountains,” performed by Sparky Rucker at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music, 1981, used courtesy of Digital Library of Appalachia’s Berea College collection (https://dla.acaweb.org/digital/collection/berea/id/2625/rec/11)

Karsten Oaks: Dynamic Symmetry Using optical crystal, Karsten Oaks cold works sculpture that bends light and color via its unique forms. Often a discernible object appears from a momentary perspective creating a vision that allows the viewer to connect on a more personal level with the piece. This mystery inspires a deeply personal relationship between viewer and object and sets Oaks’ work apart from that of his coldworking contemporaries.  He says: “When working on the design within the piece I’m using elements of dynamic symmetry such as spirals and ratios. Using different shapes in the sculpture while staying consistent with the proportions I can create a sense of harmony within what would otherwise be a disorganized form. Even after all of the major reductive cuts have been made, I leave some of the design to be laid out when the rest of the piece is almost complete. I feel that this mild sense of chaos through the work’s creation gives each piece its personality and character when it is finished.” Born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Oaks took an interest in the arts at an early age. He started playing music when he was 10 years old and went on to play a variety of instruments. As the son of a trained chef, Oaks grew up learning an appreciation of working with his hands in a creative way and enjoys cooking to this day. When he was 16, a friend introduced Oaks to glassblowing as a medium, and he traveled to Tennessee to take his first classes. This sparked the beginning of Oaks’ love of glass as a means to express his artistic vision. Now one of the most respected and trusted cold workers in the glass sculpture world, Oaks received his BFA at The Appalachian Center for Craft at Tennessee Technical University under the mentorship of Curtiss Brock. There Oaks realized that the necessity of working quickly with glassblowing or hot sculpting did not give him the creative time needed to fully think through his sculptures. After graduating, the artist relocated to Seattle, surrounding himself with leading artists in the field of glass. His first cold working client was Martin Blank, who convinced Oaks that he should open a cold working studio to offer his services to other artists while continuing to formalize what would eventually be his own body of work. Oaks was cold working for a list of respected artists when he met Lino Tagliapietra and was selected as the only artist to cold work and finish the maestro’s sculptures made in the US. This steady supply of work allowed Oaks to finally open his own studio, and as time permitted, develop his own artistic vision. In September 2014, Bender Gallery, Asheville, North Carolina, began to represent his work at the gallery as well as SOFA Expo Chicago, Art Palm Beach and Wheaton GlassWeekend with great response.

Get a very different take on US history from Phylis Dee Light of the Appalachian Center for Herbal Studies as she discusses her healing lineage that combines Irish and Indigenous herbal traditions.

Photo: UK Professor of American and African American history Nikki Brown On this week's program: Segment One: Changes coming to Kentucky’s colleges - on and off campus. | A look at the history of pandemics with the author of “Russia in the Time of Cholera.” |  Introducing “Future Tense” - anthropologist and author Chris Begley peers into a post-pandemic future through the eyes of his guests. LISTEN  Segment Two: The latest in our monthly series on the 19th Amendment | How the coronavirus has brought things to a standstill at the Appalachian Center for the Arts in Pikeville. LISTEN  Interviews in order of appearance:  Aaron Thompson - College planning in a pandemic  John Davis - Pandemic history  Chris Begley with Bianca Spriggs - Future Tense  Kathi Kern with Nikki Brown - 19th Amendment  Robin Irwin and Erick Buckley - Appalachian Center for the Arts

Photo: UK Professor of American and African American history Nikki Brown On this week's program: Segment One: Changes coming to Kentucky’s colleges - on and off campus. | A look at the history of pandemics with the author of “Russia in the Time of Cholera.” |  Introducing “Future Tense” - anthropologist and author Chris Begley peers into a post-pandemic future through the eyes of his guests. LISTEN  Segment Two: The latest in our monthly series on the 19th Amendment | How the coronavirus has brought things to a standstill at the Appalachian Center for the Arts in Pikeville. LISTEN  Interviews in order of appearance:  Aaron Thompson - College planning in a pandemic  John Davis - Pandemic history  Chris Begley with Bianca Spriggs - Future Tense  Kathi Kern with Nikki Brown - 19th Amendment  Robin Irwin and Erick Buckley - Appalachian Center for the Arts

Defying familiar branding practices, Snic Barnes prefers exploring uncharted aesthetic and technical territory, creating works that range from electroplated pipes reminiscent of Steampunk machines to his current complex functional sculpture incorporating varied motifs. The combination of his unique style and groundbreaking processes put this pioneer of mixed media pipes on the map beginning in the late 1990s. A Philadelphia-based artist, Snic discovered glassblowing in 1997 at The Crefeld School. Subsequently the 17-year-old spent a year traveling the East Coast, supporting himself by selling glass pipes at concerts and festivals. These experiences cemented a lifelong involvement in psychedelic counterculture. To advance his glass working skills, in 1999 Snic enrolled at The Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, Tennessee, and later studied at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.  Snic’s work has been exhibited at the National Liberty Museum, SCOPE Miami, Joseph Gross Gallery, SOFA Art Fair, Habatat Galleries, and Gregorio Escalante Gallery. Media featuring his artwork includes Vice, Juxtapoz, High Times, LA Weekly, Philadelphia Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and the documentary film, Degenerate Art: The Art and Culture of Glass Pipes. The artist was named Central Territory Glass Artist of the year at the 2016 American Glass Expo, won second place in group competition at the 2011 Champs Trade Show, and first place at the 2009 Pipe Classic. He has instructed at Pilchuck Glass School, Philadelphia Glassworks, Ontario’s Edy Roy Gallery, and Lunar Cycle in Tokyo.  This Saturday, February 15, 2020, Piece of Mind in Orange County presents Organized Confusion, an exhibition featuring new solo work by Snic as well as collaborative pieces by artists from California and across the country. The artist will present a live glassblowing demo in the gallery during the opening reception, held February 15, 2020. VIP 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (ticket purchase required), public from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.  

 Anne Bujold combines metalsmithing and blacksmithing techniques with alternative materials such as felt, ribbon, and plastics. In her sculpture, animals are agents examining the spaces between definitions, that fertile ground where new forms emerge.Bujold is currently the Artist-In-Residence for the Metals Department at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN. She received her MFA from the Craft and Material Studies Department at Virginia Commonwealth University (2018) and BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft (2008). Previously based in Portland, Oregon, she operated Riveted Rabbit Studio, a custom metal fabrication business.Bujold has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University (VA), Oregon College of Art and Craft (OR), The Multnomah Art Center (OR), The Donkey Mill Art Center (HI), The Appalachian Center for Craft (TN), and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (TN). 

Carmen Lozar: The Art of the Story   Spilling out from their bottles, bowls, cartons and cans, Carmen Lozar’s flameworked characters tell a story about how messy life can be. These small narratives accentuate the movement and flow of glass but also speak volumes about our relationship to the world.    “I have found myself drawn to glass for the innate sense of motion it can bring to a work of art. While the intrinsic motion of most materials becomes paralyzed at the touch of the human hand, glass, as an amorphous solid, never relinquishes its visual motility. I have chosen to pursue a career in glass sculpture not only for my love of the material, but also because there is so much left to be explored within the field of flameworking and the medium itself.”   Art has always played an essential role in Lozar’s life, growing up with a mother who performed puppet shows and a father who created scale ship models and watercolor renditions of the ramshackle barns on the outskirts of town. During undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lozar interned at the Bullseye Glass Factory in Portland, Oregon, and attended Pilchuck Glass School as a Saxe award recipient and staff member. Upon completion of her BFA, the young artist travelled to China, Indonesia, Thailand, and India to explore eastern traditional art. Back in the US, she moved to the Southwest and opened a casting and flameworking facility in Tucson, Arizona. Work from this period was exhibited in numerous shows, including SOFA, Chicago. In 2003 Lozar completed her post-graduate degree at Alfred University, New York.   Born in 1975, Lozar lives in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois where she maintains a studio and is a member of the art faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. She has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass School, Appalachian Center for Crafts, The Chrysler Museum, and the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. She has had residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass and Penland School of Craft. Although she travels abroad to teach and share her love for glass – most recently to Turkey, Italy, and New Zealand – she always returns to her Midwestern roots. “The sculpture I create with glass is meant to inspire and provoke imagination. Telling stories has always been my primary objective. Some narratives are sad, funny, or thoughtful but my pieces are always about celebrating life. My most current body of work deals with spills.”   In summer 2019, Lozar taught her Small Scale, Large Impact Masterclass at the Seventh International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge UK, as well as flameworking classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Penland School of Crafts, and UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York. In 2020, Lozar will teach flameworking at SW Art Glass, in Phoenix, AZ, January 4-5 and Pilchuck Summer Session 3.   Lozar is represented by the Ken Saunders Gallery in Chicago, and her work is included in the permanent collection at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, Wisconsin.  

Alyssa found her way to herbalism by way of organic farming, realizing that she was as interested in what the “weeds” were up to as the crops she was supposed to be cultivating! While teaching hands-on garden education at Jones Valley Teaching Farm, she fed her profound love of science, plants and cooking by connecting Birmingham City School students to food, farming, and the culinary arts through standards-based lessons and after-school programs. If plants were her second love, languages were her first. At Virginia Commonwealth University, Alyssa studied legal and medical interpretation and graduated at the top of her class with a certification in Spanish-English Translation and Interpretation and a minor in Arabic. She completed her clinical training at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, where she earned the distinction of Functional Herbalist (FH). She also studied briefly at the Appalachian Center for Natural Health in Arab, AL. Alyssa integrates the rich tradition of Western Herbalism with movement and exercise therapies, clinical nutrition and functional medicine. She endeavors to blend the best of these fields while working to deconstruct the aspects of herbalism and its history that are colonialist, patriarchal and otherwise problematic. She is deeply invested in working with clients to build a preventative, compassionate model of care that addresses the root causes of illness and discomfort in an effective and comprehensive way. Alyssa has a bottomless and enduring love for movement and an affinity for wild things, which she feeds by practicing mixed martial arts, hiking, scuba diving, swimming, and searching the woods for reptiles with her partner, Ben. In this episode, we discuss numerous aspects of health, alternative medicine, herbalism, the dichotomy between Eastern and Western medicine, treating the whole human, and much more!

Mike Rossi is the principal of Rossi Metal Design based in Philadelphia,specializing in unique architectural works and sculpture. Born in Pontiac, Michigan,he has a BFA in Blacksmithing from Northern Michigan University, and an MFA inMetalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has exhibited nationally andinternationally, currently in “Meta-Formation” at Appalachian Center for Craft andin “40 under 40: the Next Generation of American Metal Artists” at the NationalOrnamental Metals Museum in Memphis. He has taught at Bryn Athyn College,Kalamazoo College, Ox-Bow School of Art, Penland School of Craft, and HaystackMountain School of Craft. He’s got 2 cats.Registration is CLOSED but you can find information regarding the symposium at www.ironsymposium.com.Mike’s instagram: @rossimetalsSymposium instagram: @brynathynironDon't forget to Rate AND Review us on iTunes!SUPPORT PERCEIVED VALUE!www.patreon.com/perceivedvaluewww.perceivedvaluepodcast.com/how-to-support-donate/Want a chance on the mic? Visit our events page at www.perceivevaluepodcast.com/events to find out when Perceive Value Podcast will be in your area!Instagram + Facebook: @perceivedvalueFind your Host:sarahrachelbrown.comInstagram: @sarahrachelbrownThe music you hear on Perceived Value is by the Seattle group Song Sparrow Research.All You Need to Know off of their album Sympathetic Buzz.Find them on Spotify!

Notes: SNAKE BIT was taken from Bob Terrell, columnist for the Asheville Citizen, daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina. This particular telling was by Loyal Jones, Director of Appalachian Center at Berea College in Kentucky.

Shane Fero’s legendary avian forms in hot glass have been sought after and cherished by collectors worldwide for nearly five decades. On the wings of his ever-inquisitive mind and an imagination fueled by nature, anthropology, astrology, and Surrealism, Fero’s work soars above and beyond its natural form, relying upon humor and thought provoking elements to attract and hold the attention of viewers.   If there has been criticism of Fero’s work it’s that bird imagery makes no statement, has no narrative. Not so to its creator. “Some beautiful and spiritual birds have always held a deeper connotation throughout history. This can only be understood by paying attention to them and contemplating both their place in the world and our affect on that.”   In fact, Fero’s focus on bird imagery has sharpened in the last 16 years with his blown bird series based on German flameworking techniques. Though these processes were learned as a young apprentice, the artist brings them into contemporary context in his sculptures, vessel forms, and mixed media pieces.   Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1953, Fero has been a flameworker for nearly 50 years and maintains a studio next to Penland School of Crafts, Bakersfield, North Carolina. He is the Past-President of the Board of Directors of the Glass Art Society (GAS) and received the 2014 Lifetime Membership Award at GAS Chicago.   Since 1992, Fero has participated in 400 group exhibitions and 33 solo shows including three retrospectives: a 30-year at the Berkowitz Gallery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; a 40-year at the Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Alabama; and at the Christian Brothers University, Memphis, Tennessee. His work can be found in over 20 museum collections worldwide including the Museum of Art & Design, New York, New York; The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark; the Museum fur Glaskunst, Lauscha, Germany; and the Nijiima Contemporary Glass Museum in Tokyo, Japan.   A renowned educator, Fero has lectured and demonstrated in symposia and conferences all over the world and taught at institutions such as Penland School of Crafts; Urban Glass, Brooklyn, New York; and the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington. His 2019 workshop schedule includes Glass Axis in Columbus, Ohio, June 24 through 27 and Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, Tennessee, July 14 through 19.   

Dr. Seth Hawkins is the author of Wilderness EMS and Vertical Aid.  He is the founder of the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine, the Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team, and the Carolina Wilderness EMS Externship.  He also co-hosts the podcast Raw Medicine.  We talk about wilderness first aid, the importance of evidence-based medicine, and his efforts to further educate the public in various ways about the latest science on first aid and health.

2017-18 RSA Board Member and Liaison to the Education Committee, Jessica Fujimoto, MD speaks with Henderson D. McGinnis, MD FAAEM, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine and co-founder of the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine. Drs. Fujimoto and McGinnis discuss wilderness medicine and how to get started or find a fellowship in wilderness medicine.

Presented by Jessica Fujimoto, MD, resident at Temple University Hospital and RSA board liaison to the Education Committee, and Henderson D. McGinnis, MD FAAEM, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine and co-founder of the Appalachian Center for Wilderness Medicine. Intro music by Akashic Records, Key to Success - Discover the Possibility from the album Corporate Presentation - Key to Success, powered by JAMENDO.

This week on StoryWeb: Helen Matthews Lewis’s book Living Social Justice in Appalachia. In honor of International Women’s Day, coming up this Wednesday, I want to pay tribute to one of the great teachers of my life, Helen Matthews Lewis. Known fondly as the mother or grandmother of Appalachian studies by the many people whose personal and professional lives she has touched, Helen – as always – modestly denies this title, saying instead that other leaders gave birth to and shaped the interdisciplinary movement. But as her colleague Stephen L. Fisher points out, “there is little question that her program at Clinch Valley College [in Virginia] served as the major catalyst for the current Appalachian studies movement and that no one has done more over the years to shape its direction than Helen.” For me, as for so many others, Helen set the standard for engaged scholarship, activist teaching, and pure regional enjoyment – whether that region is Appalachia or Wales or southern Africa. Helen weaves it all together: she revels in learning, delights in talking with and listening to everyone she meets, energetically taps her foot at bluegrass and sings gospel songs with unbridled glee. It’s perfect, then, that her 2012 book, Living Social Justice in Appalachia, is a quilt of her writings (essays, articles, and poems), her reflections given through numerous interviews, pieces others wrote about her influence on them, photographs of Helen at key times in her life, and even her famous recipes (including instructions for making chowchow, one of my grandmother’s favorite foods). Longtime friends and colleagues Patricia D. Beaver and Judith Jennings edited the volume, working with Helen to bring to life the many facets of her career and her personal journey. How do you separate the lived self from the professional self? In Helen’s mind, you don’t – and Living Social Justice in Appalachia in its form and in its very title makes clear that the personal, professional, and political are tightly fused. I’ve spoken before on StoryWeb of the special and powerful way I met Helen – in a series of visits to the Highlander Research and Education Center, founded by Myles Horton and located in New Market, Tennessee. In Appalachian studies circles, it is not at all uncommon to hear of the way Helen has touched someone’s life. In my case, she actively encouraged me to embrace participatory, liberatory teaching and offered a much-needed critical and supportive eye to my memoir, Power in the Blood, when it was just starting to form in my mind. I thought I was writing a novel. Helen gently disagreed, telling me she thought I was writing “cultural and family history told in a narrative form.” We had that conversation one afternoon at her home in Highlander. Her comment crystallized the entire project for me and remains one of the most important discussions of my life. The time I spent with Helen at Highlander was always special, whether we were tending to her garden, watching videotapes of Bill Moyers interviewing Myles Horton on the back porch of what was now Helen’s home, or chatting with friend after friend and colleague after colleague who stopped by to say hello. Helen can whip up a mean cocktail, and she was always at the ready to welcome her frequent visitors. One of my favorite stories about Helen involves a leadership award she won in the 1990s. The organization giving her the award commissioned an artist to create a small sculpture in Helen’s honor. Rather than giving her a standard trophy, the organization wanted to capture the spirit of Helen’s example. The sculpture depicted a figure leading a line of figures behind her. Looking back over her shoulder at those following her, the figure’s face is a mirror: she understands that real leadership is about reflecting back to each “follower” her own image, her own potential. This small sculpture – which Helen displayed proudly in her home at Highlander – perfectly summed up Helen’s way of leading. Helen has lived a lot of life in her ninety-plus years. She was born in rural Georgia and raised in Cumming (notorious for its extremely racist views and brutal treatment of African Americans), attended the Georgia State College for Women (along with her classmate and fellow yearbook editor, Mary Flannery O’Connor, who drew the illustrations to accompany Helen’s text), and became radicalized through the church and through state political activities. Attending graduate school at Duke University, she met her future husband, Judd Lewis, and then moved with him to Virginia. After a teaching stint at East Tennessee State University and a PhD in sociology from the University of Kentucky, Helen was divorced from Judd. From there, she traveled the world, exploring the connection between working people and participatory education in Appalachia, Wales, Nicaragua, Cuba, Holland, Belgium, France, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. She’s been let go from more than one teaching position, no doubt due to the empowering, engaged pedagogy she practiced. She’s directed Highlander and the Appalachian Center at Berea College. She’s worked at AppalShop in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and co-led community-based, participatory research in Ivanhoe, Virginia. She’s received a commendation from the Kentucky state legislature and been the recipient of honorary degrees. She’s had awards, study experiences, and lecture series named in her honor. And along the way, more than anything else, she has lifted up those she has met, provided that empowering mirror so that everyone in her field of vision sees all the potential they have inside. If you know Helen or her work, reading Living Social Justice in Appalachia will be a real treat. It brings our colleague and friend to life in such vivid ways. If you don’t know Helen or her work, reading Living Social Justice in Appalachia will give you the chance to “meet” one of the great thinkers, teachers, and leaders of our time. The book is a fantastic read from beginning to end, whether you’re jotting down her notes for growing a great garden or mixing up an old fashioned from her recipe (which specifies that you should make just one glass at a time!), whether you’re learning about how she developed anti-racist consciousness or reading first-hand accounts of those whose lives she’s touched. In the end, Helen understands that it all comes back to story. She believes strongly in telling the story of Appalachia, her region, and she believes in hearing and celebrating the stories of other folks in other regions. With StoryWeb, I celebrate stories of all kinds – and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Helen Matthews Lewis for helping me see the value of stories. “Why am I here?” she asks near the end of the book. What is my story? Which story do I tell? Everybody and every community, place, and region needs stories, narratives, tales, and theories to serve as moral and intellectual frameworks. Without a “story,” we don’t know what things mean…. We are swamped by the volume of our own experience, adrift in a sea of facts. A story gives us a direction, a kind of theory of how the world works and how it needs to work if we are to survive. . . . We need to take back our stories. Visit thestoryweb.com/lewis to view “Keep Your Eye Upon the Scale,” a short documentary film about Helen’s exploration of the connections between coal miners in Appalachia and those in Wales. A recent interview with Helen is woven throughout the film, and you’ll also see her collaborators on the project, John Gaventa (an American political sociologist) and Richard Greatex (a British filmmaker). Those who follow old-time and bluegrass music will be especially interested to see the appearance of the Strange Creek Singers: Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, Mike Seeger, and Tracy Schwarz. They came from Appalachia to Wales to share American coal mining music with the Welsh miners. Helen Matthews Lewis’s Living Social Justice in Appalachia is one good story. I highly recommend it.  

Join Sarah Holmes as she interviews herbalist Phyllis D. Light, founder of the Appalachian Center for Herbal Health as they explore epigenetics and working with food and plants to heal. The post Interview with Phyllis D. Light – April 14, 2016 appeared first on KPFA.

From Roanoke, VA, David Eichelberger has pursued a career in ceramics in school, through residencies, and now as a professor.  He worked at Santa Fe Clay for a few years, then was a resident at the ExergyXchange in Burnsville, NC, then on to an MFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then one year at the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN, then 3 years as a Resident Artist at the Penland School of Craft.  David is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Ferrum College, in Ferrum, VA.  He lives in beautiful Floyd, VA, with his wife, artist Elisa DiFeo, and their two daughters, and are expecting another daughter this summer.

Spring is on its way! Gardens will be growing, and fruits and vegetables will be ready to eat - or preserve, pickle, freeze or dry! Lisa Conley is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology, and has been working on a documentary film about home food preservation methods in Appalachia since 2009. In this podcast, Conley discusses her research for the film, as well as an upcoming event. On April 5th, 2012, Conley will be presenting at the Appalachian Forum on Home Food Preservation in Eastern Kentucky, which will include a panel discussion, an excerpt from Conley's film, and a question and answer session about food safety. The forum is from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. in Room 206 of the UK Student Center. The forum is sponsored by the Appalachian Center and the Appalachian Studies program and is free and open to the public. This podcast was produced by Cheyenne Hohman.