Traditional Arts Spotlight: Scottish Fiddle and Dance
This month Mary dropped by Joanne Garton and Fiona Stowell’s fiddle lesson in Montpelier, VT. A lifelong musician and and Scottish dancer, Joanne is Fiona’s neighbor. The pair have been working together to explore the Scottish music tradition using both fiddles and feet!
Traditional Arts Spotlight: The Long, Slow Burn of Stone Carving
Mary and Eliza paid a visit to Heather Milne Ritchie’s stone carving studio in Barre, VT where Heather and her apprentice, Becky Lovely of Northfield, VT, wield pneumatic hammers and diamond-blade grinders to bring granite slabs to life.
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Rolyang Lobling Prepares for the Tibet Festival
The 2023-2024 ‘cohort’ of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program includes 18 collaborations between mentor artists and apprentices who are working together to keep traditional cultural expressions vital and relevant to the communities that practice them. In this ongoing series of Field Notes we’ll introduce you to some of this year’s program participants and the traditional art forms they practice. Today meet the students of Rolyang Lobling, a Tibetan music and dance class led by Migmar Tsering.
Traditional Arts Spotlight - How to Play the 5-String Banjo
The 2022-2023 ‘cohort’ of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program included 12 collaborations between mentor artists and apprentices who worked together to keep traditional cultural expressions vital and relevant to the communities that practice them.This note features interview excerpts, audio, and photos from a recent site visit from VT Folklife staffer Mary Wesley had with mentor artist Rik Palieri (Hinesburg, VT) and his apprentice, Jason Baker (Burlington, VT).
Traditional Arts Spotlight - Abenaki Basketmaking and Fiber Art
The 2022-2023 ‘cohort’ of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program includes 12 collaborations between mentor artists and apprentices who are working together to keep traditional cultural expressions vital and relevant to the communities that practice them. In this ongoing series of Field Notes we’ll introduce you to some of this year’s program participants and the traditional art forms they practice. Today meet Abenaki artists Vera Sheehan and Sherry Gould.
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Keeping it in the Family - Jeffrey and Emerson Gale White Ash Basketmaking Apprenticeship
For the past year, Jeffrey Gale and his son, Emerson have been participating in an apprenticeship though Vermont Folklife’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). Mary Wesley paid them a visit this spring to check out what they’ve been up to.
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Pete Sutherland and Emmett Stowell - "The Old Boom Chuck"
Master artist Pete Sutherland is working with his 10-year-old apprentice Emmett Stowell to bestow the art of what Pete calls the “old boom chuck,” aka New England contra dance piano accompaniment. This Traditional Arts Spotlight features text and audio excerpts from two virtual “site visits” with Pete and Emmett recorded via Zoom last spring and this winter. A site visit offers a chance for artists and apprentices to reflect on and make a record of their work together as well as a chance to build and maintain a relationship with VFC staff (this has felt particularly important during the pandemic).
Traditional Arts Spotlight: Migmar Tsering, Teaching Music During Covid
We asked master artist and musician Migmar Tsering to tell us how he was staying connected to his students during the pandemic. Migmar has lived in Vermont since 2011. He was born in Tibet and was brought up in India. In Vermont he is active as a singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and traditional Tibetan dance instructor. In this post, Migmar describes his Covid era challenges and adaptations in his music class.