Aug. 18, 2017
Lisa Palmer: Paper Filigree
With its new website and the Show-Me Folk blog, the Missouri Folk Arts Program will publish a number of Stories from the Field. In addition to stories from staff and student workers, we will invite traditional artists, cultural experts, consultants, and community scholars to share photo essays on an array of topics. You may look forward to stories about traditional arts, place stories, and foodways, among others. Our first guest blogger is Lisa Palmer of Ste. Genevieve. MFAP staff met Lisa when she worked with University of Missouri Extension and coordinated the Mississippi River Hills Association–a…
Aug. 16, 2017
Acoustic Guitar: McClurg Jam
A story and photographs by Karen Peterson about Missouri’s McClurg Jam for Acoustic Guitar, featuring Missouri old-time guitarist Alvie Dooms, guitarist/community scholar Gordon McCann, and fiddler David Scrivner. Dooms has been jamming at McClurg since its beginnings. “If I’m able to hold my head up, I go,” he quips. http://acousticguitar.com/inside-the-mcclurg-jam-the-heart-of-the-deep-ozarks-sound/…
Aug. 14, 2017
Tribute to John White
With a heavy heart, we share that old-time North Missouri fiddler John T. White of Hallsville died on Saturday, August 12, 2017. Born in Ethel, Mo., in Macon County, John White told our Folk Arts Specialist Deborah Bailey that he first learned fiddle from his family; his mother, father, and grandfather were all accomplished fiddlers. In 2004, John said: “Most of my early experience was in Shelby, Macon, and Monroe counties playing for square dances. I have played in barn lofts, on flatbed trucks parked on the street, in school houses, at fair grounds, in churches, and community centers to…
Aug. 8, 2017
News Tribune: Tappel’s Patriotic Quilt
Patriotic quilt could fetch premium price at picnic MFAP friend and master quilter Patti Tappel of Osage Bluff, Mo. paper pieced the patriotic American Spirit quilt (over 2,500 pieces), and the ladies at her church quilted it for the annual church fundraiser. We hear the quilt raised $5,000 at the annual church picnic and auction! Photo courtesy of artist…
Aug. 8, 2017
Tribute to John W. Glenn
We are saddened to learn today that master blacksmith John W. Glenn of St. Joseph, Mo., died on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Mr. Glenn is one of the rarer master artists in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program–one who led several apprenticeships over the years (between 1996-2007). photo courtesy of funeral home Mr. Glenn learning blacksmithing from his father, then trained further as a teenager at St. Joe’s Benton High School Annex before serving as head blacksmith for the 714th Railway Battalion. Blacksmithing is a tradition that Mr. Glenn passed on to several apprentices in TAAP and beyond, including his…
Aug. 1, 2017
St. Louis Magazine: Carmen S. Dence
Carmen Dence, founder of dance troupe Grupo Atlántico, talks life and performance. Photo by Kevin A. Roberts [Carmen Sofia Dence is a long-time participant in MFAP’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program and educational projects. Her performance group Grupo Atlántico participates in the Missouri Arts Council’s Touring Performers.]…
Aug. 1, 2017
Lake News Online: JP’s Boots
From the Lake News, story and photo by Kirstie Hunter Family Tradition: JP’s hand-crafted boots for nearly 40 years [Both Joe Patrickus and Joey Patrickus have participated in MFAP’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.]…
June 27, 2017
Tribute to Stan Elmore
The staff of the Missouri Folk Arts Program extends heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of Stan Elmore. Mr. Elmore was a master artist in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 1996, when he taught shape-note singing to apprentice Steve Ramsey (both pictured above). Mr. Elmore’s brother Johnny also taught shape-note singing in TAAP in 1991, and those lessons were recorded by Gordon McCann, archived now at Missouri State University Archives. Rest in Peace. An obituary for Mr. Stan Elmore can be found here: https://obittree.com/obituary/us/missouri/joplin/mason—woodard-mortuary–crematory/stanley-elmore/2136368/…
June 14, 2017
Daily Journal Online: Schulte-Skaggs Farm
Schulte-Skaggs Farm, provided by Ruth Ann Skaggs to the Daily Journal Online [Ruth Ann Skaggs is a member of MFAP’s Community Scholars Network.]…
June 13, 2017
Tribute to Vivian Hawkins
We are saddened to learn that storyteller Vivian Hawkins of Hannibal, Mo. has died. She apprenticed, along with Deborah Swanegan and Samuel Williams, in 1993 with Gladys Caines Coggswell in Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Ms. Hawkins took the knowledge and skills she learned during her apprenticeship (and in life) as far away as Warsaw, Poland–and always close to home, sharing her gift at libraries, schools, social clubs, churches, nursing homes, and festivals. She was especially keen on sustaining the oral tradition in rural communities. We extend our deepest sympathy to her family and friends. RIP [Herald-Whig News…