Virginia Humanities

Learn from This Place: Bringing Arlington to Halls Hill

This project is an outgrowth of the Cigar Box Project, an initiative led by the organization, “Changing Arlington’s Narrative on Race.” In this project 280 Arlington middle schoolers participated in a project incorporating Piedmont Blues music, Halls Hill neighborhood history, and building cigar box guitars. The Panel and Performance event titled, “Learn from This Place: […]

VA Folklife Area at Richmond Folk Festival to Showcase Car Culture

Virginia Humanities joins the Richmond Folk Festival in announcing the Virginia Folklife Area theme for the 2019 Richmond Folk Festival: “Hot Rods and Hot Licks.” When: The 15th annual Richmond Folk Festival takes place Friday, October 11, beginning at 6:00 PM, through Sunday, October 13 at 6:00 PM. The Virginia Folklife Area will be open […]

Tastes & Tales from Tangier

Oct. 24 - The Hermitage Museum & Gardens, Norfolk

Join us Thu. Oct. 24 in Norfolk at The Hermitage Museum and Gardens for an exploration of the compelling stories, environmental challenges, and cultural traditions of one of Virginia’s⁠—and the world’s⁠—most unique places.

John Jackson Piedmont Blues Festival

Sept. 28, Woodville

John Jackson was born in 1924 in Rappahannock County, VA to a tenant farming family who were also extremely musically talented. He received the National Heritage Fellowship in 1986 from the National Endowment for the Arts, America’s highest honor in the folk music world. Jackson performed for Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, the US […]

Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program Gallery

Portraits from the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program will be on display at the 292 North Gallery at The Church of the Incarnation in Harrisonburg during the months of August and September. The fifty-six portraits were made between the years of 2012 and 2018 by Pat Jarrett. There will be a First Friday opening reception on […]

La Nona Kanta

The Remarkable Life of Flory Jagoda

“La Nona Kanta” is a tale of survival and courage. The program is a celebration of the life and work of Flory Altarac Jagoda, the National Heritage Award-winning, Bosnian-born Sephardic singer and composer, with live music by Susan Gaeta, Tina Chancey, and Howard Bass of Sephardic ensemble Trio Sefardi. Join us to explore archival family photographs, […]

Liberation and Belonging in Community through Song

Join us and Springhouse Community School for a five-day series exploring the themes of liberation and belonging in community through song. Wednesday May 15th, 7:30pm: a concert by Tim Eriksen at the Floyd Country Store Thursday May 16th, 9:30-11:30am: workshop with Tim Eriksen at Springhouse Community School. We will explore several musical traditions and connections to […]

Soul Supper: Cora Harvey Armstrong

Our Virginia Folklife Program has partnered with The Front Porch to bring celebrated gospel singer and piano player Cora Harvey Armstrong to Charlottesville for a special performance as part of the Front Porch’s “Soul Supper” monthly concert series. This concert series, highlighting masters of American Roots Music, will feature a family style dinner at 5:30 pm and music at 7 pm. Dinner […]

Lua Project Announces Mexilachian Son

New Sones from an Emerging Virginia Culture, May 11-12

Announcing a weekend of public performances featuring Veracruz, Mexico based Son Jarocho master musician and poet Zenen Zeferino in collaboration with roots music ensemble the Lua Project. Luray, Va—Mexilachian Son is a multimedia project featuring extensive interviews with Latino immigrants in Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. With support from Virginia Humanities, Lua Project artists […]

Announcing Folklife Apprenticeship Class of 2019-2020

Virginia Humanities’ Virginia Folklife Program announces the 2019-2020 class of Master artists in the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Through a competitive selection process, Master artists are chosen from diverse Folklife practices and traditions and paired with an apprentice. The seven new teams join more than 120 pairs of masters and apprentices who have taken part […]

2019 Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase

Join Virginia’s folk masters and their apprentices for a celebration of traditional music, food, and crafts at James Monroe’s Highland, just outside of Charlottesville. The showcase will feature the graduating class of masters and apprentices and welcome in the new class, plus many Virginia Folklife apprenticeship program alumni. Audiences will enjoy live musical performances and […]

A Mighty Tapestry

Preserving Traditions that Amplify the Commonwealth’s Diverse Heritage

The Virginia Folklife Program’s apprenticeship teams are preserving an array of traditions that amplify the Commonwealth’s diverse cultural heritage.