July 23, 2019
Then & Now Apprentice Journeys
We invite everyone to visit our YouTube channel, where we are pleased to say, you will find edited videos from all eight Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys oral histories. Feel free to watch all eight via the playlist, or follow the links below for the most recent additions. Mo Folk Arts launched a new series in 2016, showcasing former apprentices in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. These featured artists worked hard in…
Jan. 16, 2019
Then & Now: Ray Joe Hastings
Once again, we are happy to launch a Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys video on our YouTube channel! Take a look at an edited video from the live oral history of master gigmaker Ray Joe Hastings of Doniphan, Mo. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKowSlSM81M] Ray Joe Hastings with gig. Photo Credit: Lisa L. Higgins In April 2018, MFAP’s Folk Arts Specialist Deborah A. Bailey had the honor to interview Mr. Hastings at the Community Center in downtown Doniphan, where he shared stories about his 1996…
May 17, 2018
Then & Now: Deb Swanegan
Welcome back to Stories from the Field and the latest post in our Show Me Folk blog. The blog is our dedicated space for staff, student workers, traditional artists, cultural experts, consultants, and community scholars to share photo essays on an array of topics in Missouri’s traditional arts and folklife. By now, our blog followers know that the Missouri Folk Arts Program added a new component to the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2016. With Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys, MFAP seeks to showcase and document previous apprentices who ultimately achieved master artist status in TAAP. In each of the first three years…
Dec. 27, 2017
Then & Now: John P. Williams
We’re happy to launch our fourth Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys video! Please visit our Missouri Folk Arts Program YouTube channel to watch Folk Arts Director Lisa Higgins interview master fiddler John P. Williams, Jr. In April 2016 at the Missouri Folk Arts Program office, John Williams of Madison, Mo. shared his experiences as an apprentice in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program to the late Pete McMahan in the 1990s. In this photo by Dana Everts-Boehm, Pete McMahan teaches apprentice John P. Williams, Jr. a few tunes. Almost two decades later, John took on his own apprentice, Bob Cathey. Since the…
Nov. 28, 2017
Then & Now: Gladys Caines Coggswell
We’re happy to launch our third Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys video! Visit our Missouri Folk Arts Program YouTube channel to watch. In May 2017 at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Missouri Folk Arts Program director Lisa L. Higgins interviewed Dr. Gladys Caines Coggswell, another previous apprentice who ultimately became a master artist in Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Dr. Coggswell was first an apprentice to the late St. Louis jazz and blues vocalist Mae Wheeler in 1998. Later, Coggswell went on to lead storytelling apprenticeships seven times. Our thanks to the…
Oct. 25, 2017
Then & Now: Mike Massey
We’re happy to launch our second Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys video at the Missouri Folk Arts Program YouTube channel, where we are posting occasional videos from the field. In November 2016, Jackson Medel filmed Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys with master saddlemaker and leather carver Mike Massey, who was interviewed by our Folk Arts Specialist Debbie Bailey at Mizzou North in Columbia, Mo. Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AANsQnri9g Before the annual Smithsonian Museum Day, Bailey took time to interview Mr. Massey about his experiences as an apprentice with Martin Bergin. Massey also tells about his…
Sep. 18, 2017
Then & Now: Loretta Washington
We’re happy to announce that we’ve launched a Missouri Folk Arts Program YouTube channel, one where we will post occasional videos from the field. In May 2016, Jackson Medel filmed Then and Now: Apprentice Journeys with storyteller Loretta Washington at The Stage at KDHX in St. Louis, Mo. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUFkWomr7IA During the annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival, MFAP director Lisa Higgins interviewed Ms. Washington about her experiences as an apprentice of Gladys Caines Coggswell, as well as about Washington’s own experiences when she reached master artist status and led her own apprenticeships. We hope you…