Sights & Sounds

Margarita “Tata” Sanchez Cepeda & Isha M Renta Lopez

Bomba Dance Bomba is, as Margarita “Tata” Sanchez Cepeda puts it, “all about love. I was taught under love, bomba is a form of love, and we continue to carry …

Sights & Sounds

D. Brad Hatch, David Onks IV and Reagan Andersen

Four years ago, Dr. D. Brad Hatch was one of just two members of the Patawomeck Indian tribe who knew how to weave an eel pot. Now Brad is teaching fellow tribal members David Onks IV and Reagan Andersen how to make eel pots as part of the Virginia Folklife Program’s 2022-23 Apprenticeship Program cohort.

Sights & Sounds

Virginia Folklife Futures

For thirty-three years, the Virginia Folklife Program at Virginia Humanities has worked to document, sustain, present, and support cultural traditions across the Commonwealth. I began work as the third Virginia …

Sights & Sounds

Sushmita Mazumdar of Studio PAUSE

Making space for community-focused art practice When Sushmita opened the door, inviting me into Studio PAUSE for the first time, the overwhelming first impression was: Color! Sunshine streamed in through …

Sights & Sounds

We Are Part of a CommonWEALTH of Cultures

At the Richmond Folk Festival this October, we invited visitors to tell us what sorts of performances and cultural expressions they would enjoy next year and beyond.  We commissioned Sushmita …

Sights & Sounds

Richmond Folk Festival 2022 Recap

The Virginia Folklife Area at this year’s Richmond Folk Festival was a resounding success! Across the three days of the festival, October 7–9, a record-breaking 230,000 people visited the festival …

Sights & Sounds

Finding the “Nuevo South” Sound with Larry Bellorín and Joe Troop – Folklife Fieldnotes 10

Joe Troop and Larry Bellorín met in the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina and hit it off immediately. Joe was dealing with a shift in his musical career and Larry …

Photo of the seven men in the Chosen Few in the midst of singing, with one man foregrounded on the leftSights & Sounds

Tidewater Gospel Traditions with Rev. Tarrence Paschall and the Chosen Few on Folklife Fieldnotes 9

Rev. Tarrence Paschall has been singing with The Paschall Brothers for years, and now he’s signing with another Hampton Roads-based group keeping the Gospel Quartet tradition alive, the Chosen Few.

Virginia state folklorist Katy Clune, in a colorful shirt, poses for a portrait with violin makers Richard Maxham, left, and Danny Smith, right, in front of a cluttered workbench in Smith's shop.Sights & Sounds

Katy Clune Shares Stories and Fieldwork on Folklife Fieldnotes 8

Director of the Virginia Folklife Program Katy Clune joins Pat Jarrett and Chris Boros on this episode of Folklife Fieldnotes.

Sights & Sounds

Behind the Cut: Hair Culture in Richmond

My name is David Robbins and I am an intern here at Virginia Humanities. I was graced with the opportunity work with a few of the different programs within the …

Sights & Sounds

86 Years of Fiddlers’

by Pat Jarrett Always held during the first full week of August (technically it always starts the Monday after the first Saturday of the month), the 86th Old Fiddlers’ Convention …

Sights & Sounds

Finding My Voice in Virginia

Five months ago I started work as state folklorist and director of the Virginia Folklife Program here at Virginia Humanities. My intent this first year is to be on the …

Sights & Sounds

Rev. Edward Scott & His Jazz Worship Service – Folklife Fieldnotes Episode 7

Dr. Rev. Edward Scott is the pastor at Allen Chapel AME Church in Staunton, VA. He’s also a jazz music enthusiast. He takes his love of jazz and combines it with his …

Sights & Sounds

Mac Traynham & Ashlee Watkins – Folklife Fieldnotes Episode 6

“I only wish that all of my bluegrass and old-time pickin’ friends in Australia could be exposed to this kind of culture and they would hear the difference in it too,” …