Jan. 25, 2018
Arts and Access
Most of our friends, followers, and constituents know that the Missouri Folk Arts Program is based at the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri. MFAP has been anchored at the Museum since 1993, and, since 2013, MFAP has been housed in the same building (Mizzou North). For MFAP staff, being in the same physical space as our colleagues has been beneficial for any number of reasons, like being in close proximity to our colleagues, learning more about the Museum’s operations and collections, and finding opportunities occasionally to collaborate on projects. Typically, MFAP has programmed…
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…
Dec. 24, 2017
Robert Mueller: Missouri French Bouillon
Welcome back once again to Stories from the Field and a new 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. Our latest guest blogger is Robert (Bob) Mueller. Bob is a local historian in Ste. Genevieve who searches out the history, genealogy, traditions, food, and cultures of Missouri’s oldest settlement. He is a member of the local Art Guild and a past president of the Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve. He is…
Dec. 19, 2017
Claire Schmidt: Niche Agriculture
Welcome back once again to Stories from the Field and a new 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. Our latest blogger is Claire Schmidt, PhD, an assistant professor of English at Missouri Valley College in Marshall since 2013. Professor Schmidt teaches a variety of courses in the English Department and advises students in the Honors Program. Not only has Schmidt recently published her first scholarly book, she worked…
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. 31, 2017
Tribute to Jennie Cummings
We were so incredibly sad to hear the news that our friend and colleague Jennie Cummings, founding director of the Mountain View Cowboy Poetry Gathering, died October 29. The obituary posted below hits on her many accomplishments, including being the matriarch to her family. photo courtesy of funeral home Lisa Higgins wrote a letter of support for Jennie’s nomination for the Missouri Arts Council‘s 2015 Leadership in the Arts Award. Here’s an excerpt: “When one thinks of the Leadership in the Arts Award, it might seem unusual to put Cummings in the same company…
Oct. 30, 2017
Mary Peura: Liver Dumplings
Welcome back to Stories from the Field and a new 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. Our latest blogger is Community Scholar Mary Peura of Ste. Genevieve. We at the Missouri Folk Arts Program first met Mary at a Community Scholars Workshop in 2013, hosted by the Ste. Genevieve Welcome Center and organized by local liaison Lisa Palmer with University of Missouri Extension (at that time).
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…
Oct. 3, 2017
Ozarks Alive: H.K. Silvey
When fiddler H.K. Silvey was a boy in rural Ozark County, a down-the-road town seemed nearly as far away as the moon. Enjoy this blog post and photos from Kaitlynn McConnell’s Ozarks Alive. You’ll learn not only how H.K. Silvey came to be such a fine fiddler but how he made a living in the aerospace industry before returning home to Theodosia: http://www.ozarksalive.com/h-k-silvey-ozarks-fiddler-made-moon/…
Sep. 29, 2017
Missouri Life: Martin Bergin
“I get as much satisfaction from the last saddle I made as from the first saddle I put together,” he says. “When the day comes when that’s not the case, I’ll shut down my shop, pack up my dog, and go ’possum hunting.” A feature story and photographs by Eddie O’Neill about master saddlemaker and cowboy poet Martin Bergin for Missouri Life Magazine. Read the full story here: http://www.missourilife.com/life/art/martin-bergin/