May 31, 2023
Selvidge Student Honored
Selvidge Middle School in Baldwin, Mo. announced that eighth-grader Shreenidhi Senthilnathan earned recognition for her participation in the 2023 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program with Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, who are pictured below with Folk Arts Specialist Deborah Bailey. https://www.rsdmo.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=31&ModuleInstanceID=99&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=315780&PageID=55 …
May 5, 2023
Mexico Ledger: Kenny Applebee
The Mexico Ledger, the only daily newspaper published in Mexico, Missouri and the surrounding rural area, announced on May 5, 2023, that local resident Kenny Applebee was an inaugural Living Traditions Sustainer Fellow. Kenny Applebee (right) accompanies Boone County old-time fiddler Pete McMahan on a bench on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s 1991 Festival of American Folklife. Photo courtesy Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association…
May 5, 2023
Carmen Sofia Dence, Living Traditions Fellow
Carmen Sofia Dence, St. Louis, Mo. Colombian Folkloric Dancer, Choreographer, Costume Maker, Founding Director–Grupo Atlántico Carmen Sofia Dence displays her hand-crafted plaque. Carmen Sofia Dence learned to dance as a child in her local barrio (neighborhood) in Barranquilla, Colombia from her mother, her aunt, local elders, and her peers. In her coastal state, the music and dances are imbued with indigenous, Spanish, and African influences. She is proud to share with others the vitality of dance from her hometown, the site of a spectacular four…
April 28, 2023
Red Latina Online: Carmen S. Dence
Red Latina St. Louis announced on April 28, 2023, that Colombian folkloric dancer Carmen Sofia Dence was an inaugural 2023 Missouri Living Traditions Sustainer Fellow. The online article (in Spanish) is available at this link: https://www.redlatinastl.com/noticia/missouri/758 Carmen Sofia Dence talks to students in Shelby County, Mo., schools during a weeklong residency in 2008. Photo by Susan Eleuterio…
April 28, 2023
Kenny Applebee, Living Traditions Fellow
Kenny Applebee, Mexico, Mo. Old-time Rhythm Guitarist Kenny and Norma Applebee pose with his custom made Living Traditions Sustainer Award. Photo courtesy of Mexico Moose Lodge 1706 Kenny Applebee is widely recognized as a mainstay of old-time music in Missouri. He has “backed” fiddlers on his rhythm guitar for decades at contests, jams, concerts, dances, and the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp. Applebee picked up the guitar at age 14 and credits a regional flat picker for teaching “all the chords I needed to know.” As an adult, he…
April 24, 2023
Inaugural Living Traditions Fellows
Missouri Folk Arts Program Announces Inaugural Living Traditions Sustainer Fellows April 24, 2023 COLUMBIA, MO – The Missouri Folk Arts Program has chosen the recipients of the inaugural Missouri Living Traditions Sustainer Fellowship, the state’s newest award to recognize the artistic excellence and lifetime achievement of living traditional artists in the Show Me State. The fellowships honor these individuals’ deep-rooted contributions to their art forms and to the vibrant communities in Missouri that the artists support. Old-time rhythm guitarist Kenny Applebee and Colombian folkloric dancer Carmen Sofia Dence announced as inaugural recipients of Living Traditions Sustainer…
April 18, 2023
Tribute to Bernard Allen
We’ve learned the sad news yesterday that master luthier Bernard Allen of Naylor, Mo. passed away Sunday, 4/16/2023. Missouri Folk Arts has been honored to work with Mr. Allen many times over the years, first when he apprenticed to Doc James E. Price in 1987 to learn traditional wood joinery. Their friendship started before and continued all these years. Master luthier Bernard Allen (Naylor) is pictured here in a 1991 photo by previous MFAP director Dana Everts-Boehm. Mr. Allen took his joinery skills and applied them to luthiery, crafting fiddles and mandolins. In 2006, he generously contributed his wisdom to…
March 17, 2023
Kim Garcia-Artist Profile
“You’re not going to learn something until you’re ready to learn it.” Kim Garcia Over the last few years, Missouri Folk Arts has collaborated with community documentarians to identify traditional arts regionally; document traditions locally; and share Missouri stories more widely. Nathan Lee McAlister visited southwest Missouri and Wyandotte beadworker Kim Garcia on behalf of Missouri Folk Arts and shared an artist profile and photos with us. Our collaboration with Nathan was made possible thanks to funding from Mid-America Arts Alliance with Folk & Traditional Arts…
Dec. 9, 2022
Lee Ann Sours–Artist Profile
“In the beginning I wasn’t thinking about being a fiber artist. I was just thinking about farming.” Lee Ann Sours Over the last few years, Missouri Folk Arts has collaborated with community documentarians to identify traditional arts regionally; document traditions locally; and share Missouri stories more widely. Last year, Nathan Lee McAlister visited southwest Missouri weaver Lee Ann Sours on behalf of Missouri Folk Arts and shared an artist profile and photos with us. Our collaboration with Nathan was made possible thanks to funding…
Sep. 12, 2022
Ste. Genevieve Legends & Lore Marker
Exciting news! Additional Missouri community adds Legends & Lore marker! Ste. Genevieve Tourism Department installed a roadside marker this year that tells the story of an unusual phenomenon related to noted U.S. Senator and physician Lewis F. Linn. The inscription reads: WEEPING TREE A CHERRY TREE KEEPING VIGIL OVER SENATOR LEWIS LINN’S GRAVE WEPT WHEN HIS BODY WAS MOVED IN 1905. HIS…