The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, will present two showcases to celebrate the ten participating pairs of the 2024-25 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program.
The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program supports expert traditional artists in West Virginia as they mentor dedicated apprentices on a yearlong apprenticeship in their cultural expression or traditional art form. “We invite the public to meet the traditional artists at these events, and join us in celebrating their incredible achievements in passing on important family and community traditions,” says State Folklorist Jennie Williams. These upcoming showcases mark the conclusion of the fourth round of this biennial program.
The first of two showcases will be on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, at 1 p.m., and will take place at the West Virginia Humanities Council’s historic headquarters at 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E. in Charleston. The event is free and open to the public, with demonstrations, performances and refreshments.
Five participating pairs will be featured at the Charleston event on Nov. 1: white oak basket maker Judy Van Gundy and her apprentice Andrea Brandon-Hennig (Randolph County); gardener and farmer Dural Miller and his apprentice Linesha Frith (Kanawha County); Appalachian candy maker Nancy Nelson and her apprentice Kenneth “KD” Jones (Kanawha County); Appalachian storyteller Bill Hairston and his apprentice Aristotle Jones (Kanawha and Monongalia counties); and clawhammer banjo player Tim Bing and his apprentice Edwin McCoy (Cabell and Monroe counties). Refreshments will include candy samples made by the candy-making apprenticeship pair.
The second showcase will be on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at 3 p.m. at Arthurdale Heritage, 18 Q Rd. in Arthurdale. This event celebrates five more participating Folklife Apprenticeship pairs: fiber artist Margaret Bruning and her apprentice Nevada Tribble (Randolph County); Katie McCoy, who studied fiddle repair under the late Richard Eddy (Monongalia County); Primitive Baptist hymn singer Ginny Hawker and her apprentice Mary Linscheid (Randolph and Monongalia counties); old-time fiddler Ben Townsend and his apprentice Bodhi Gibbons-Guinn (Hampshire County and Alleghany County, Md.); and square dance caller Taylor Runner and his apprentice Annick Odom (Monongalia County). A square dance will follow the other demonstrations. This free event is dedicated to the memory of Richard Eddy (1943-2025).
The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program and these showcases are made possible with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions program, and donations from the public.
For more information and to RSVP for this free event, go to wvfolklife.org. Contact Jennie Williams with questions at williams@wvhumanities.org or 304-346-8500.
