Show Me Folk

Word Press

June 1, 2021

Ozarks Alive: Springfield Stories

With a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and support from the Missouri Arts Council, our state folk arts staff has been thrilled these last four years to establish new relationships and strengthen established relationships via the Show Me Folk initiative. Missouri is such a large and diverse state to explore that we have broken down documentation of traditional artists and arts to more manageable target areas in collaboration with local partners. Show Me Folk gives us the time and resources to dive deeper,…
Word Press

April 20, 2021

Ozarks Alive: Springfield Partnership

With a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and support from the Missouri Arts Council, our state folk arts staff has been thrilled these last four years to establish new relationships and strengthen established relationships via the Show Me Folk initiative. Missouri is such a large and diverse state to explore that we have broken down documentation of traditional artists and arts to more manageable target areas in collaboration with local partners. Show Me Folk gives us the time and resources to dive deeper, alternating annually between rural and urban communities.
Image of Bernie Trappel in his Blacksmith workshop. He appears in the foreground of the photo where he works on a current piece for the Focus Exhibit. Behind him hang finished pieces on his wall.

March 22, 2021

Exhibit: MO Blacksmiths Sampler

In 2019, Mid-America Arts Alliance and Missouri Folk Arts partnered to create a blacksmithing exhibition at the M-AAA offices at the Crossroads in Kansas City, Mo. Bernard Tappel of Osage Bluff Blacksmith Shop provided expert input and loaned objects. That exhibition and accompanying “hammer in” with Tappel and Mike McLaughlin were very well-received, but the event was short-lived.  Fast forward to 2020, Missouri Folk Arts hoped to install a smaller version as the newest Focus Exhibit in March at the Museum of…
Vesta Johnson is photographed playing fiddle at a home session during a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program site visit. Vesta is an elderly white woman with white hair, peppered with black at the root. She has a focused expression fixed on her fiddle, wearing a pair of thin metal framed glasses, a plain dark brown tee shirt, and a pair of white pants. Vesta sits in the foreground of the photo on a brown metal chair, behind her is an array of home decor (couch and pillows, white curtains, and a wood paneled wall with a landscape painting).

March 9, 2021

Tribute to Vesta Johnson

We were very sad to hear the news on Friday, March 5, 2021, that master old-time fiddler Vesta Johnson had died. At the same time, we understand from her devoted family that she passed peacefully after recent struggles with cancer. We are of the belief that there never has been or will be anyone like Vesta. It is hard to know where to start with a tribute to Vesta, as we are so lucky that much of her life and her music has been documented for posterity. Certainly, there are files in Missouri Folk Arts’ collection at the State Historical…
Promotional photo for Missouri 2021 Legends, Lore, & Stories of the Show Me State

March 2, 2021

Missouri 2021 Presents

On March 2, 2021, Missouri Folk Arts director Lisa Higgins joined Missouri 2021 Presents' host Beth Pike on a panel to discuss the Wm. G. Pomeroy Foundation's Legends & Lore Marker Grant Program. From the State Historical Society of Missouri: Missouri is rich in its history, folklore, and storytelling. The bicentennial year offers a range of opportunities to engage in our state’s history and culture through storytelling with performances, workshops, poetry, book talks, online resources, and more! In this presentation, hear how organizations around the state are preserving the stories of our past and engaging new audiences. We…
Promotional material for Show Me State of Stories. Graphic reads,

Jan. 14, 2021

State of Stories: Missouri Quilting

On January 14, 2021, Missouri Folk Arts director Lisa Higgins joined Missouri 2021 coordinator Michael Sweeney for a State of Stories discussion of quilting in Missouri, hosted by Mark Livengood of The Story Center at the Mid-Continent Public Library.  Dr. Lisa Higgins and Dr. Michael Sweeney describe quilting traditions from across the state as well as the state’s Bicentennial quilt. State of Stories is a series of free public programs commemorating the Missouri Bicentennial. Developed…
Headshot photo of Gary Ray Johnson for his tribute. Gary is an elderly white male wearing silver aviator style eyeglasses. He wears a light green colored button down shirt and in front of his neck/chest area rests a wooden violin.

Dec. 23, 2020

Tribute to Gary Johnston

Once again, we must share sad news. Early this week, we learned that previous Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program master fiddler Gary Johnston (Nevada, Mo.) has died. We are thankful, though, that Mr. Johnston’s friend and one-time apprentice Samuel Kendrick wrote the following tribute, which we share here in its entirety. We at Mo Folk Arts send our deepest condolences to Mr. Johnston’s family and all who knew him.    A TRIBUTE TO GARY JOHNSTON (1937-2020) BY SAMUEL KENDRICK (Previous Mo Folk Arts Apprentice) Hey Y’all,…
Image of Evelyn Pulliam; from the chest up. Evelyn is an older Black woman, she wears a light pink lace patterned top and matching over jacket. She wears a thick pearl necklace, and has a white broach on her shirt. She wears thick plastic framed glasses, hair is tied back in braids.

Dec. 9, 2020

Tribute to Evelyn Pulliam

We at the Missouri Folk Arts were very sad to hear the news that previous Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program apprentice Evelyn Pulliam of Kennett, Mo. (1998 and 1999) recently passed away. We thank master storyteller, author, and community scholar Dr. Gladys Caines Coggswell for writing the following tribute to Mrs. Pulliam, which we’re sharing here in its entirety. by Dr. Gladys Caines Coggswell Too many folks have crossed over to the other side. This year, the death rate was exceptionally high in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It makes my heart heavy with…
Storytellers share ghost stories and legends on stage. Center is Angela J. Williams, a plus sized Black woman. She wears a short sleeve black shirt and loose black pants with white shoes. Her braided hair is tied up in a ponytail. On her left sits another storyteller, listening to Angela J. Williams. She is an older lightskin Black woman with short salt n pepper hair, she wears an earth toned patterned shirt over green pants, and brown sandals. On the right of Angela J. Willaims sits another older Black woman, she wears a short cut black hairstyle, a pink shirt with black pants, and a white long cardigan.

Oct. 1, 2020

KCUR 89.3: Legends & Lore

KCUR’s Anne Kniggendorf describes how citizens can “put more stories on the map” via Missouri Folk Arts’ partnership with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s Legends & Lore Marker Grant Program.   Kansas city storyteller and educator Angela J. Williams (center) shares a ghost story from her hometown of Hannibal, Mo. with an audience at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis. Photo credit: Heather Rhodes Johnson…
Bergin wearing cowboy hat in his workshop

Sep. 30, 2020

Tribute to Martin Bergin

We are saddened to learn that cowboy poet and master saddlemaker Martin J. Bergin, of Overland, Mo., passed away on September 24, 2020. His funeral services are scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2020, with Ortmann’s Funeral Home in Overland (obituary link follows this tribute). Mr. Bergin was a longtime participant in projects of Missouri Folk Arts and its predecessors the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts and the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center. Through Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts, Bergin often took to the stage or demonstrated at the Frontier Folklife Festival,…