Special ProjectsFolklife Program staff plan and present special projects that have statewide impact. Museum development, festivals, touring programs, school programs, curriculum development, national conferences, and documentary sound recordings, films, and videos are examples of projects produced since 1977. Documentary materials resulting from these projects, including field notes, sound recordings, photographs and slides, and film and videotape footage, are preserved in an office archive and in the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill.
A contestant waits backstage to compete at the Mount Airy Fiddlers’ Convention. Photo by Cedric N. Chatterley for the Blue Ridge Music Trails project.
Cherokee Heritage Trails presents the traditions of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Amanda Swimmer builds her pots in an old style starting with coils of clay and applies designs with a carved paddle. Her pottery is exhibited and sold at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Cooperative, a site on the trail. Photograph by Cedric N. Chatterley.
Mother and child by woodcarver and heritage award recipient George SerVance of Thomasville. Photo by Cedric N. Chatterley.
These young Sparta School performers from Alleghany County are Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM), an after school music instruction program taught by traditional stringband musicians. Begun at Sparta School, JAM programs now operate in seven Western North Carolina counties. Photo by Helen White.
Fifth generation Seagrove potter Sid Luck teaches Seagrove Elementary School fourth graders how to turn pots on a wheel at the neighboring North Carolina Pottery Center.
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