Alice Gerrard, left, an icon of the old time and bluegrass genres, and her apprentice Sophie Moeckel gathered at GerrardÕs Durham, North Carolina home to practice on Sunday, 2/16/25. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Alice Gerrard & Sophie Moeckel

This past year, through our Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, Sophie has learned directly from Alice — not just melodies and lyrics, but how to listen, how to breathe a story into a song, and how to carry a musical lineage with care and respect.

From left, Jenna Taylor, Ellen Elmes and Renee Wienecke. Muralist Ellen ElmesÕ murals mark the landscapes in mountain towns across Virginia and greater Appalachia, including on the iconic Jettie Baker Center in Clintwood. Her apprentices, Renee Wienecke of Cedar Bluff and Jenna Taylor of Clintwood met at the Jettie Baker Center to organize the mural panels on 2/15/25. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Ellen Elmes, Renée Wienecke & Jenna Taylor

If you’ve driven through the network of small coalfield communities in far Southwest Virginia, chances are you’ve seen a mural painted by Ellen Elmes.

John Alexander and Erin Simons hold brooms they have madeSights & Sounds
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John Alexander & Erin Simons

Through our 2024–2025 Folklife Apprenticeship Program, John Alexander has spent the last year teaching Erin Simons the craft of broom making.

Author Gregg Kimball discussed the life and music of Jimmie Strother with musician and researcher Corey Harris at the McGuffey Art Center during the Virginia Festival of the Book on Friday, March 21, 2025. Katy Clune moderated. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds

Listen to “Searching for Jimmie Strother” with Gregg D. Kimball & Corey Harris

The Virginia Folklife Program presented an event—part book talk, part concert—for the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 21 featuring Gregg D. Kimball and musician-scholar Corey Harris that explored the tumultuous life …

Clyde Jenkins weaves white oak baskets in his home in Stanley on 1/27/25. Jenkins said he learned how to harvest oak for baskets after he followed his uncle Harry into the woods and watched him harvest the material from the right kind of tree. HeÕs taught himself how to make baskets and has been practicing most of his life. Photo by Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Clyde Jenkins, Teacher of Virginia Traditions

Clyde Jenkins lives off Jenkins Lane on land his great-great grandfather acquired in Page County in the eighteenth century.

Leila Nelson of Anointed Apparel in Staunton and her apprentice and pageant queen April Hopson of Waynesboro pose for a portrait in NelsonÕs home studio in Staunton on 10/8/24. Hopson sewed the top she is wearing. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Lelia Nelson & April Hobson

What do prayer shawls and pageant gowns have in common? You’ll find both in the home workshop of Lelia Nelson, owner of Anointed Apparel and Accessories in Staunton, Virginia.

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Appalachia to Nova Scotia

Toni Doman-Vandyke received a 2023–2024 Fulbright Award to study the relationship between technology and the Cape Breton traditional music scene.

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‘You Can Love With Music’: Remembering Dean ‘T-Baby’ Reed

Dean passed away last August, but the mountain music he devoted his life to propagating will play on.

Legendary luthier Wayne Henderson is apprenticing his daughter Jayne Henderson. Photos taken at Henderson's Rugby, Virginia workshop on Friday, August 9, 2013. Photo by Pat JarrettSights & Sounds
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Inside Wayne Henderson’s Shop

Ian Moriarty shares his experience interviewing legendary luthier Wayne Henderson at his shop in Grayson County.

Acclaimed chef and food historian Leni Sorensen, left, is apprenticing Elizabeth Beamon in the footways of Central Virginia. Photos made at SorensenÕs Brownsville farm on 8/15/24. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Leni Sorensen & Elizabeth Beamon

Acclaimed chef and food historian Leni Sorensen is apprenticing Elizabeth Beamon in the foodways of Central Virginia.

Fr. Đorđe Tomić talks about the icons that adorn his church. The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Orthodox Church in Louisa serves the populations of both Charlottesville and Richmond. The church was photographed on 8/8/24. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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Cabbage Rolls & Home-Smoked Sausage: Louisa County’s Serbian Orthodox Church

In the small town of Louisa, a blue and white roadside sign nods to the presence of the center of Serbian Orthodox life in Virginia: the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Orthodox Church.

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Lessons from a Fig Library

In this feature, Virginia state folklorist Katy Clune introduces four figs from Bernard Herman’s unique library—Westerhouse, Princess Anne, Hog Island, and Brunswick.

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CJ Colston, Josh Outsey & geonovah on With Good Reason

Virginia Folklife is proud to have two past collaborators featured on “32 Blocks of Music,” this week’s episode of With Good Reason produced by Jamal Millner!

RichmondÕs own Kadencia, featuring Kily Vializ, left, led a community Plenazo at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery during the Richmond Folk Festival on Saturday, 9/28/24. Pat Jarrett/Virginia HumanitiesSights & Sounds
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“Plena x 3” at 2024 Richmond Folk Festival 

Kily Vializ performed with Kadencia, led by Maurice (Tito’s father and band founder) and Tito, who is band leader for Kadencia’s comparsa, or small ensemble.