Sights & SoundsGerald Anderson and Spencer Strickland
Southwest Virginia has always had a rich tradition of luthiers—the builders of stringed, fretted instruments, and mandolin maker Gerald Anderson is considered among today’s true masters. Gerald spent more than …
Sights & SoundsMary Beery and Joan Knight and Mollie Beery
The Shenandoah Valley has long been home to some of the country’s finest quilters. Among those who have contributed to the quilting tradition of the region are the Mennonites, who …
Sights & SoundsPatrick and Aaron Olwell
The flute has long held a prominent place in traditional Irish music, but the practice of making flutes specifically for Irish music is relatively new. For many years, Irish musicians …
Sights & SoundsClyde Jenkins and Sam Cave
The traditional skill of making baskets from white oaks is hundreds of years old, involving an in-depth study of the grain structure of the tree. Each white oak tree behaves …
Sights & SoundsNorman Amos and John Buck
The art of snake cane carving is practiced throughout the world, and has a rich history in southern Appalachia. The process begins when a vine wraps itself around a tree …
Sights & SoundsLarry Counts and Dee Puckett and Thomas Vail
Broom making has enjoyed a long history in Appalachia and throughout Virginia. Initially, brooms were made primarily as a home craft, and then later became a vibrant cottage industry. Broom …
Sights & SoundsMildred Moore and Bonnie Sears
The Pamunkey Indian potters have been creating their distinctive blackware pottery since before the first contact with Europeans in 1607. Born and raised on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, Mildred Moore …
Sights & SoundsGanell Marshall and Sarah Mullins
A version of corn shuck doll making was likely first introduced to settlers in Southwest Virginia by Native Americans, though it was also a staple craft of early Mission Schools …
Sights & SoundsGrayson Chesser and Robie Marsh, Jr.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia, a narrow peninsula stretching roughly seventy-five miles between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, has long been a veritable hotbed of decoy-carving masters. The …
Sights & SoundsAudrey Hash Ham and Carl Powers
There is perhaps no sound more associated with the Blue Ridge Mountains than that of a bow gliding across the strings of a fiddle. While much attention has been focused …
Sights & SoundsJohn Rinehart and Don Fitzgerald
Ever since the automobile has been mass produced by the assembly lines of Detroit, it has been revised, altered, elaborated, and reconstructed in small garages and car shops throughout America. …
