Field Notes Blog
It’s February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day, a time to celebrate love in all its forms. Here at Vermont Folklife, we often mark this sentimental season by turning our microphones towards friends and neighbors who are in love to ask the simple question, “How did you meet?” This year, we found one in an unexpected place, during an interview for an oral history project centered around the hunting and wildlife management of wild turkeys in Vermont,
2023 has been a tremendous year for Vermont Folklife—we’ve fully integrated Young Tradition Vermont’s programming, carried out successful research projects, and shared our work with people across the state through events, exhibits, listening parties, and more. We hope you’ll take a minute to help us celebrate the accomplishments your generosity helped make possible.
Vermont Folklife is pleased to announce the cohort of mentor and student artists comprising the 32nd cycle of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP)! Eighteen mentorships will be supported this coming year, including traditional Nepali basket making, Judaic ritual weaving, granite carving, Burundian dance, and more.
As our state continues to recover and heal from the 2023 floods, we are re-sharing some of the resources that Vermont Folklife developed for times of crisis.
We are delighted that Mary Wesley, who has worked with Vermont Folklife in a wide range of capacities since 2009, has been promoted to Director of Education & Media as of May 22nd.
The Touring Group had just returned from their April 21-30th cultural travel tour to Cape Breton, a whirlwind of performances, workshops, and visits with many opportunities to engage with and be inspired by Cape Breton's cultural and language communities.
he Vermont Folklife Board and Staff are thrilled to announce the appointment of Ian Drury as full-time Director of Young Tradition Vermont at Vermont Folklife. Drury will succeed Mark Sustic, founder and long-time director of Young Tradition Vermont (YTV), formerly a stand-alone nonprofit that joined forces with Vermont Folklife in July, 2022.
This month, the VT Folklife Education team, Sasha Antohin and Mary Wesley, attended the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society (AFS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read about their trip!
VFC was thrilled to support a one-of-a-kind summer camp in Brattleboro, conceived and led by a group of five Afghan artists who have been making waves across southern Vermont since resettling in the area early this year. Abdullah, Marwa, Meetra, Negina, and Zuhra are all part of ArtLords, a global Afghan-led movement using art for peace building and social transformation. With support from Vermont Afterschool, VFC underwrote three traditional-arts based youth summer programs, including this camp in Brattleboro.
Thanks to grant funding from the Canaday Family Foundation, the Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to welcome our first Youth Media Fellow for the 2022-2023 academic year. This position will support the objectives of the Vermont Voices pilot program, whose main objective is to integrate humanities-centered training and skills practice at career and technical education (CTE) centers.
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to announce the cohort of mentor and student artists comprising the 31st cycle of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP)! Twelve mentorships will be supported this coming year. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council, the Center initiated the program in 1992 to support the continued vitality of Vermont's living cultural heritage.
In 1792 Rachel Harris Burton of Manchester was exhumed from her grave and partially burned out of fear she had become vampire. Rachel, and the citizens of Manchester, were caught up in a vampire panic that spread through New England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a panic with two documented cases in Vermont, first in Manchester and then again over 40 years later in Woodstock.
The Folklife Center strives to reach across the state with our events and exhibits, and this July we’re enjoying concentrating our energy in southeastern Vermont through a range of programs in Brattleboro. The In/Visible Stories Series centered around The Most Costly Journey exhibit, on display through the end of July, features the experiences of Latin American migrant farmworkers in Vermont. Here’s a glimpse of some of the events that have taken place over the last two weeks:
This winter, the Folklife Center launched its Teaching with Primary Sources project. As part of that effort, VFC surveyed its own archival holdings to identify primary sources related to farming life and local foodways. April McIlwaine, a graduate student of the UVM Foodways Program and VFC Education intern for Spring 2022, was an instrumental part of the completion of this survey, and offered key insights for the future of this project.
On Saturday, May 14th, VFC staff joined the Burlington Nepali Rai and Limbu Community for Sansari Puja—a springtime festival celebrating Mother Earth. The community gathered and were joined by friends and neighbors from around Burlington to connect, eat, make music and dance.
We are excited to announce that Young Tradition Vermont will become a program of the Vermont Folklife Center effective July 1, 2022!
On March 13, 2022 VFC Education staffer Mary Wesley attended a special reception at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (BMAC) to celebrate a collaboration between the VFC’s Vermont Voices project, the Windham Regional Career Center, and Mexican-American artist Yvette Molina. Mary reflects on the experience in this Field Note.
This year marks Associate Director and Archivist Andy Kolovos' 20th anniversary at the Folklife Center. We asked Jane Beck, the VFC’s Founder and Director from 1984 to 2007, to reflect on Andy’s time with the organization.
During 2022 the VFC is celebrating 30 years of Innovation in Tradition by looking back on how its Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP) has both sustained and advanced traditional arts in Vermont over the last three decades. Our staff is currently working hard to create an exciting year of programming to showcase the many amazing artists who have come through the program. Learn more here!
This winter we’re delighted to be working with two interns who are currently supporting our Education and Archive programs. April McIlwaine is a graduate student at the University of Vermont where she is pursuing a Masters in Food Systems. Lua Piovano-Marcotte is a third year student at Bennington College studying sociology, rural studies, and disability studies. Read more here!
After last year’s success the VFC’s Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Exhibit will again be held virtually! Open to any Vermont resident, bake and build an edible creation and submit photos online to participate in the contest. Prizes will be awarded in multiple categories and photos from each submission will be included in an online exhibit. Registration is required. Register here!
It’s our favorite time of the year! Halloween 2021 is nearly upon us. Check out the many ways the VFC observes the spooky season.
The Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to announce the cohort of master artists and students comprising the 29th year of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP). Thirteen projects will be supported this year. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council, the Center initiated the program in 1992 to support the continued vitality of Vermont's living cultural heritage. More than 365 apprenticeships have been supported since 1992. Read about the 13 successful applicants of the 2020 - 2022 program cycle here.
The Vermont Folklife Center archive holds over 6,000 audio recordings of interviews with Vermonters. Many have been conducted by VFC staff, but the Center also accepts materials donated by others who have conducted ethnographic and oral history research in Vermont and the surrounding region. This is the first in a series of posts that explores the archive through projects donated by outside researchers.
This year our Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Exhibit is going virtual! Open to any Vermont resident, bake and build an edible creation and submit photos online to participate in the contest. Prizes will be awarded in multiple categories and photos from each submission will be included in an online exhibit. Pre-registration is required. Register here!
The Board and Staff of the Vermont Folklife Center are thrilled to announce the appointment of Alexandra (Sasha) Antohin as the Center’s full-time Director of Education. “I cannot imagine a more qualified person to lead the Center’s education programming to new and exciting places” said Executive Director, Kate Haughey.
As summer arrives the 2019-2020 cycle of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP) is winding down. We share some highlights from our pre- and post-Covid field visits with artists around the state.
The Vermont Folklife Center is in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the fight for racial justice. We urge Vermonters to reflect on the ways in which systemic racism and oppression operate in our society. Thank you for listening, learning and supporting anti-oppression efforts in our communities.
A wintry Sunday afternoon in Brattleboro. Seven local farmers invited to talk—surrounded by an exhibit of beautiful black-and-white photographs by Richard W. Brown titled The Last of the Hill Farms: Echoes of Vermont’s Past.
Check out photos from the VFC’s 21st Annual Gingerbread House Competition and Exhibit! This year’s theme was “Christmas at Hogwarts Castle.”
Living Traditions
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!
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.
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.
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).
Vermont Folklife is pleased to announce the cohort of mentor and student artists comprising the 32nd cycle of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (VTAAP)! Eighteen mentorships will be supported this coming year, including traditional Nepali basket making, Judaic ritual weaving, granite carving, Burundian dance, and more.
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.
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.
On Saturday, May 13th, Vermont Folklife was honored to join the Burlington Nepali Rai and Limbu Community for Sansari Puja—a springtime festival celebrating Mother Earth. The community gathered and were joined by friends and neighbors from around Burlington to connect, eat, make music, and dance. The event included many past and present participants in our Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, including a performance by the Old North End Sarangi Club.
The Touring Group resumed rehearsals in January, welcoming Artist Leaders Pascal Gemme and Véronique Plasse from Quebec for a weekend of music learning and workshops!
The 2023-2024 Touring Group had two terrific rehearsals this fall, spending time together learning new tunes, singing in French, and getting to know each other. Artist Leader Pascal Gemme taught a tune, Le Brandy, and a song, De terre en vigne (la voilà la jolie vigne!) and the Youth Artist Leaders have introduced their sets.
We had a fabulous time running Trad Camp the last week in July! The camp, which is a longstanding Young Tradition Vermont program, took place in downtown Burlington with three dozen camper an many fabulous instructors and guest artists! Below are some scenes from each day of camp!
Auditions are now open for the the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group’s 2023-24 season. This year, the Touring Group season begins in September with an online orientation, followed by regular in-person rehearsals and performances in Vermont, and ends in June 2024 with a tour to Quebec. Touring Group members learn from and are supported by artist leaders and guest expert musicians and dancers throughout the season, as well as sharing in musical exchanges with expert artists and young musicians and dancers while on tour.
I am sure many are very eager to hear more concerning this coming year’s programming! Good news! I have updates! :) This year the YTV Touring Group will be going to Montreal and Quebec City!
The Touring Group had just returned from their April 21-30th cultural travel tour to Cape Breton, a whirlwind of performances, workshops, and visits with many opportunities to engage with and be inspired by Cape Breton's cultural and language communities.
More from Vermont Folklife
While interviews make up the vast majority of the audio and video recordings in the Archive, the collection includes a great deal of music as well. This month we feature songs of loss and longing, including hearing from Franco-American singers, Carmen Beaudoin Bombardier and Kim Chase
In this month’s Did You Know? we look at the once-thriving business of cutting, harvesting, storing, and selling ice through the experiences of Albert Morelli. As a boy in the 1920s and 1930s, Albert worked with his father, Frank Morelli, who had an ice business based in Rouses Point, NY, serving New York state towns on Lake Champlain as well as towns in Québec. His stories come from a 1994 interview with Vermont Folklife's Greg Sharrow as part of a collection of interviews about life around Lake Champlain.
In this month’s Did You Know we share winter travel stories from Alden Bettis of Waitsfield, Vermont. Alden was born during World War I, and grew up during the Depression. He shares about sledding to school, getting his milk truck out of the ditch using only a piece of rope, and riding an empty gas tank down the slopes at Mad River Glen!
Whether crossing a frozen body of water, or traveling hilly rural roads, Vermonters have had to come up with some particularly ingenious ways to get around in winter. In this month's "Did You Know?", we hear from four people who describe clever–and sometimes humorous–ways they and their friends managed to get from place to place in a world beset by ice and snow.
The VT Folklife Archive is full of amazing first-person accounts of everyday life in Vermont and New England–past and present. In this feature, we share these stories with you.
Well, last month we thought we were concluding our four-part series on the Ticonderoga, but there were just too many good stories about the Ti left untold. So this month with cold weather setting in here in Vermont, we're adding one more set of stories about the Ticonderoga in winter–a time when the work changed to fit the needs of the season.
This month, we continue with the fourth and final article in our four-part series on the steamship Ticonderoga. In this month's article, we hear recollections from Lynn Bottom–a former captain on the Hudson River Dayline, but with a long history with Lake Champlain–about how the Ti was moved from the lake to its current location on land at the museum. Then we hear from Chip Stulin, the project manager who oversaw the restoration of the Ti in the 1990s. Both are recorded in interviews with VT Folklife founder Jane Beck in the mid 1990's.
Vermont Folklife is proud to have a collection of interviews of many of the people who lived and worked on the Steamboat Ticonderoga during its 47-year life on Lake Champlain between 1906 and 1953. Running a large steamship required finely-tuned systems, and many of the interviewees talk about these systems, which they used to operate the ship. This month we feature the voices of Jerry Aske, Dick Derry, and Dick Adams, recorded in interviews with VT Folklife founder Jane Beck in the late 1990s.
Vermont Folklife is proud to have a collection of interviews of many of the people who lived and worked on the Steamboat Ticonderoga during its 47-year life on Lake Champlain between 1906 and 1953. Running a large steamship required finely-tuned systems, and many of the interviewees talk about these systems, which they used to operate the ship. This month we feature the voices of Jerry Aske, Dick Derry, and Dick Adams, recorded in interviews with VT Folklife founder Jane Beck in the late 1990s.
Vermont Folklife is featured in the 10th Volume of the Journal of Folklore and Education!
The volume focuses on Teaching With Folk Sources, a partnership with our colleagues Local Learning that Vermont Folklife staff have been involved with over the past two years. Teaching With Folk Sources focuses on making materials in ethnographic and oral history archives accessible to classroom teachers.
As our state continues to recover and heal from the 2023 floods, we are re-sharing some of the resources that Vermont Folklife developed for times of crisis.
We are delighted that Mary Wesley, who has worked with Vermont Folklife in a wide range of capacities since 2009, has been promoted to Director of Education & Media as of May 22nd.
This spring, we–with project partners History Miami Museum, Oklahoma Oral History Program, OSU Writing Project and Local Learning–launched Folk Sources, a digital resource that provides pathways and tools for learning with specific types of primary source materials: field recorded archival sound, documentary photographs, text and other items generated through the research activities of folklorists, ethnomusicologists, oral historians and anthropologists.
Multiple Perspectives and Counter Narratives in Vermont’s Food System: A workshop for K-12 educators and partners was an inspiring occasion that brought together educators and community partners to discuss learning strategies that focus on creating a more just and sustainable food system.
This month, the VT Folklife Education team, Sasha Antohin and Mary Wesley, attended the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society (AFS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read about their trip!
Thanks to grant funding from the Canaday Family Foundation, the Vermont Folklife Center is pleased to welcome our first Youth Media Fellow for the 2022-2023 academic year. This position will support the objectives of the Vermont Voices pilot program, whose main objective is to integrate humanities-centered training and skills practice at career and technical education (CTE) centers.
This summer included two activities that have shaped the development of our classroom resources. This past July, the VFC organized a workshop at the St. Albans Museum for K-12 educators that presented oral history interviews focused on the role farmers play in Vermont’s history and identity. A few weeks later, the VFC participated in a workshop at the Minnesota History Center that offered strategies for pairing the use of primary sources with approaches to culturally relevant pedagogy.
Recently, Associate Director and Archivist (and resident comic nerd) Andy Kolovos has been exploring childhood engagement with comic books in Vermont through the memories of cartoonists in their 40s to 70s, who actively purchased comic books here from the 1950s to the early 1990s. Andy presented a short paper about this recent project at this year’s American Folklore Society conference. With the Non-Fiction Comics Festival coming up this weekend, we decided to share Andy’s paper where he (and the people he interviewed) talk about how comics served as a launching pad for their childhood art-making.
Read about this interview project in collaboration with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the reintroduction of wild turkeys here in Vermont.
Casey Dooley, VFC Education intern (Fall 2021), shares a rich list of resources available from other organizations that provides some guidance for those embarking on their own oral history projects.
On July 14, 2021, twelve residents of Mendon, Vermont gathered to discuss the lasting impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which is approaching its 10 year commemoration. As the Vermont Folklife Center's summer intern, and University of Vermont student, I helped facilitate a group conversation called a story circle. The opportunity to look at the impact of Irene as a story circle observer allowed me to witness the importance of community and helping out your neighbors.
El viaje más caro is an ethnographic cartooning and graphic medicine project that uses collaborative storytelling as a tool to mitigate loneliness, isolation, and despair among Latin American migrant farm workers on Vermont dairy farms. This May, the project released The Most Costly Journey, a 252 page collection of these comics for an English speaking audience.