A blog sponsored by the Michigan State University Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program, a partnership with the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Sharing news and information about the Great Lakes Folk Festival, Quilt Index, the MSU Museum's traditional arts activities, Great Lakes traditional artists and arts resources, and much more. Development of content for this blog supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

R.I.P. Doc Watson

Doc Watson died on Tuesday 5/29/12, at the age of 89.  It's hard to overstate his influence on virtually every folk and bluegrass guitarist over the last fifty years, and his music enthralled millions of fans around the world, including those who saw him at the National Folk Festival in East Lansing in August 2001.

Arthel "Doc" Watson was born on March 3, 1923, and lost his sight from an eye infection while still a baby.  His parents encouraged not only his early love of music, but a general sense of self-reliance; his father put him on one end of a two-man crosscut saw "to show me that there was not a reason in the world that I couldn't pull my own weight," Doc recalled, and throughout his life Doc did carpentry around his house, shingled his roof, and caned chairs.

Doc's family sang and played music, and also owned a phonograph which introduced him to Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, and other country stars.  He started playing harmonica, then a handmade banjo from his father, and finally began playing guitar in his teens.  He developed his own style by listening closely to recordings and imitating what he heard, starting with Merle Travis-style fingerpicking.  Eventually he mastered the ability to flatpick the melodies of fiddle tunes, at full speed and with astonishing precision, and that's the style that first brought him national attention.

Folklorist Ralph Rinzler discovered Doc in 1960.  Rinzler was in North Carolina to record old-time musicians Clarence Ashley, Clint Howard, and Fred Price, and they invited Doc to provide guitar backup.  In those days, Doc was mostly performing rockabilly music on electric guitar, but Rinzler convinced him to switch to acoustic guitar for these sessions.  Once Rinzler heard Doc's playing and singing, he persuaded Doc (with considerable effort) to come to New York and perform for the growing folk music audience there.  But Rinzler insisted that Doc stick to acoustic guitar, and to the traditional and country songs in his repertoire.  (Once Doc's traditional credentials had been established, he later felt able to perform other types of music he liked, including Gershwin's "Summertime," Tom Paxton songs, and, in 1995, a CD returning to his rockabilly roots with the clever title of "Docabilly.")

In the early Sixties, Doc Watson quickly became a star within folk circles, playing in clubs like Gerde's Folk City and at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.  Rinzler's field recordings of Doc were released on Folkways, followed in 1964 by Doc's first solo album on Vanguard, the label for which he made many other LPs that ended up in virtually every acoustic guitarist's collection.

Doc had married Rosa Lee Carlton in 1947, and they had two children, Merle and Nancy.  Merle taught himself guitar and began performing with his father in 1964; Doc's second Vanguard album was titled "Doc Watson & Son."  Merle never sang (and barely spoke) on stage, but his skill on guitar soon equaled Doc's, and together they were an incredible team.  For many fans, the highlights of their concerts and albums were their extraordinary instrumental duets, flatpicking fiddle tunes at lightning speed, one playing melody and the other harmony.

As a duo -- and later a trio, with T. Michael Coleman joining them on electric bass -- Doc and Merle toured constantly, playing to ever-bigger crowds.  Doc's reputation grew to a broader audience when he participated in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's landmark 1972 album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," alongside country legends Merle Travis, Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, and Jimmy Martin.  (The album includes a snippet of conversation between Doc and Merle Travis, meeting for the first time, where Doc explains that he named his son after Travis.)  Doc won the first of many Grammy Awards in 1973.

Tragedy struck in 1985, when Merle was killed in a tractor accident.  For the rest of his life, Doc felt the loss not only of his son but also his constant companion and performing partner.  He considered retirement but carried on with his career, using a number of other sidemen (most frequently Jack Lawrence, David Holt, or Merle's son Richard Watson), though never with the same joy as he'd had alongside Merle.  His picking speed diminished a bit as he got older, and he tended to let his accompanists take more of the intricate solos, but his playing always remained impeccably tasteful.  Meanwhile, Doc's wonderful singing, which had often been upstaged by his guitar work, deservedly got more of the spotlight.

In 1988, Doc started an annual bluegrass and folk festival, MerleFest, in his son's memory.  One of Doc's last performances was at this year's MerleFest at the end of April 2012, which drew 76,000 attendees.

Doc Watson recorded around 25 or 30 albums during his career.  One of my own favorites is "Doc Watson on Stage" (Vanguard, 1971), which captures Doc and Merle in a typical concert from that period.  Some of Doc's later albums sounded a little cluttered as he added extra musicians to make a more commercial-sounding record, but "On Stage" is just Doc and Merle and their acoustic guitars, with a nice selection of songs, lots of Doc's warm and funny stage conversation, and of course a few breathtaking guitar duets.  Another excellent choice is "The Three Pickers" (Rounder, 2003) a concert with Doc, Earl Scruggs, and Ricky Skaggs (available on both CD and DVD), or some of the compilations like "Foundation: The Doc Watson Guitar Instrumental Collection 1964-1998" (Sugar Hill, 2000).  There are also several commercially-available DVDs of Doc's music, both instructional guitar videos and concert footage.  Kent Gustavson has written Doc's biography, "Blind But Now I See" (Blooming Twig Books, 2010).

The day after Doc's passing, "Fresh Air" rebroadcast an excellent interview that Terry Gross recorded with Doc in 1988.  I recommend it -- here's the link:
<http://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153704132/fresh-air-remembers-traditional-music-legend-doc-watson>

We were fortunate to have Doc perform in East Lansing a few times over the years, at the 2001 National Folk Festival, in the 1990s at the Michigan Festival (with Robin & Linda Williams opening), and Doc & Merle played at the Mariah Coffeehouse on the Michigan State campus back in the 1970s, I recall.  Thinking back over all three of the National Folk Festivals here and the ten Great Lakes Folk Festivals that followed, I believe that Doc's appearance was probably the most widely-anticipated of any performer's.  In the weeks beforehand, and throughout the Festival itself, countless fans told me how thrilled they were to be able to see Doc in person, how much they cherished his recordings, and how he had inspired them to take up guitar.  They, and I, share that love for Doc Watson with millions of other fans around the world, and we all mourn his loss this week.





Monday, May 28, 2012

James Aquash, sweetgrass basket artist, in new exhibition at MOCAD

James Aquash, talented sweetgrass artists who participated in the Great Lakes American Indian Basket and Boxmakers events hosted by Michigan state University Museum and the Nokomis Learning Center has work featured in a new exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, running from May 11-July 29, 2012. 


Post-Industrial Complex is a survey, group exhibition, and source book that explores the ingenuity and adaptivity of human-scale production at the heart of Detroit. The exhibition disrupts the notion that there is a story of the city. A true metropolis is comprised of multiple stories and multiple voices. From a prolific inventor to a collective working to keep an aboriginal language alive, the artists included in this exhibition—all of whom responded to an open call for “makers, inventors, problem solvers, fabricators, modifiers, etc...”—are a small, yet representative, sample of the diverse range of brainpower that exists in a city often oversimplified by metanarratives.

Programming includes a trading post, how-to sessions, exhibition tours led by community members and barbeques in the back parking lot. This exhibition is organized by Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit Curator of Public Engagement Jon Brumit and Curator of Education Katie McGowan. 

Major support for Post-Industrial Complex is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Team Detroit. Related programming support is provided by the McGregor Fund and Edith S. Briskin/Shirley K. Schlafer Foundation.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Museum of Ojibwa Culture Native American Festival

Contact ojibmus@lighthouse.net for more info

Saturday, May 26, 2012 6:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
St. Ignace, Michigan

PROGRAM
Sunrise Ceremony: 6:30 to 9:00 A.M.
Everyone Welcome!
Ceremony will take place on the Kiwanis Beach across from the Ojibwa Museum at 500 N. State St.
Workshops: Will take place throughout the day on the museum grounds.
Demonstrations:
Drumming, Dancing and Singing
Will take place on the museum grounds, morning and afternoon.
Storytelling will take place in the Long House


FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS
Rita De Voy………………….…………………... Hoop Dancer
Men’s Drum Group…………………………. Little Thunder
Grandmother Moon Singers
Francie Wyers……………………….... Head Female Dancer
Gene Biron………………………………… Head Male Dancer
Joey Loonsfoot..………………… Head Male Youth Dancer
Helena St. Onge................. Head Female Youth Dancer
Metis Dancers….….……………….Sault Ste Marie, Canada

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
Brain Tanning………………………………. Perry Neuman
Black Ash Basket Making……………. Marge Bekins
Dreamcatcher …………..………………... Sue St. Onge
Birch Bark Necklace……………..…. Helena St. Onge
Quill Work Demonstration……..…. Tom and Sally

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

MSU Museum students intern with Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.


The Smithsonian's annual folklife festival held on the national mall typically draws more than 1 million visitors to learn about history, heritage and expressive culture. This year, Michigan State University is helping produce this enormous event! 

Four students with ties to the MSU Museum will be interning at the Smithsonian Institution's annual Folklife Festival, which will be held this June and July to showcase diverse, authentic and living traditions and to help foster understanding of expressive culture.

Current MSU Museum intern Emily Langenberg will be in Washington, D.C. for eight weeks beginning this June to work on their festival before coming back to help with the MSU Museum's Great Lakes Folk Festival in August. Recent Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) graduate Hailey Chenevert had an internship with the Great Lakes Folk Festival. Last fall, she moved to D.C. to start working on the 2012 Folklife Festival. Meredith Brown, another graduate from RCAH, has an internship to help this summer, and Meghan Burke, an Art History graduate, will be at the Folklife Festival to work the Children's Area.

In addition to the four students, C. Kurt Dewhurst, director of arts and cultural initiatives for University Outreach and Engagement and curator of folklife and cultural heritage at the MSU Museum, is co-curating the Folklife Festival's "Campus and Community" program. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is held outdoors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. between the Smithsonian museums. Festival hours June 27-July 1 and
July 4-8 are 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., with special events taking place most evenings. Learn more at: <http://www.festival.si.edu/>http://www.festival.si.edu/.

The Smithsonian program will be recreated on a smaller scale as a featured part of the MSU Museum's 2012 Great Lakes Folk Festival, Aug. 10-12 in downtown East Lansing, with help from these Smithsonian interns. Meanwhile, MSU Museum technical aide Lori Hagadorn, a Smithsonian intern in 2009, will also assist with the Great Lakes Folk Festival event this summer. MSU Museum is Michigan's first Smithsonian affiliate. For more, see <http://museum.msu.edu>http://museum.msu.edu.
####

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Michigan Folklife Resources on American Folklife Center/Library of Congress Website

Michigan information can be found in the "Folklife in Your State" pages now available on American Folklife Center/Library of Congress' website. These pages centralize state-based information found elsewhere on the AFC/LOC site including links to finding aids for each state, the National Sampler Project, Local Legacies projects, Veterans History Project collections, state-based educational resources, and other institutions and organizations arranged by state in the Folklife Sourcebook. Also included are links to webcasts for AFC/LOC's Homegrown Concerts and Botkin Lectures from each state. The main link to these pages is located on AFC's homepage so people visiting us there can immediately find what AFC has from their state. Find the page here: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/states/index.html





[from the AFC Board Newsletter (Board Newsletter of the American Folklife Center) Volume 1, Issue 3]

SEEKS ARTISTS, VENDORS FOR GLFF MARKETPLACE, AUG. 10-12

The Michigan State University Museum is seeking traditional arts and “green” artists and vendors of “green” lifeways products for its annual Great Lakes Folk Festival, Aug. 10-12 in downtown East Lansing.
 
Curated by the MSU Museum staff, the marketplace will be limited to 60 artists and vendors who meet the criteria for a traditional/folk or green artist. Folk or traditional art is generally learned by example from a family or community member, through imitation and repetition, rather than through formal instruction such as classes or workshops. Traditional art, as practiced by ethnic, regional, occupational, familial, and religious groups, refers to the traditional expressions through which these communities maintain and pass on their shared sense of beauty, identity, and values. Green artists take used or recycled materials and upcycle them to make art or functional objects. The products convey the artists' wisdom, skill and creativity for conserving the planet and using materials in a sometimes recognizable, and sometimes surprising way.
 
New this year: interested vendors should go to zapplication.org and search for MSU Museum's Great Lakes Folk Festival. ZAPP is an online application system that allows artists to upload high-resolution digital images of their artwork and apply to participate in juried art shows, festivals and fairs. The application deadline is June 15, 2012.
 
Photo by Pearl Yee Wong, MSU Museum
The Great Lakes Folk Festival showcases the traditional cultural treasures of the nation's Upper Midwest and a sampling of the best of traditional artists from around the country and the world. The festival encourages cross-cultural understanding of our diverse society through the presentation of musicians, dancers, cooks, storytellers and craftspeople whose traditions are rooted in their communities. The festival includes nearly 100 musicians or dancers in groups, who perform at least twice and sometimes as many as four times over the weekend. Also featured are traditional and other food vendors, craft vendors and many other individual artists/demonstrators. There are four performance stages, a children's hands-on activity area, demonstration area, and the folk arts marketplace. In addition there are special programs every year, which feature some aspect of traditional culture. This year's special program is Campus and Community.
 
Festival hours are:  Friday, Aug. 10, 6 - 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 11, noon - 10:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 12, noon - 6 p.m. For more information, call the MSU Museum at (517) 432-GLFF (4533)  and on Facebook and Twitter  (twitter.com/GLFF).
 
The Great Lakes Folk Festival is presented by the Michigan State University Museum, Michigan's first Smithsonian affiliate. The MSU Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program researches, documents, preserves, and presents our shared heritage and cultural expressions.

May-June 2012 Michigan Stained Glass Census features Detroit building and windows

The David Whitney House and The Whitney Restaurant, photo courtesy of Heather O'Hara.
The David Whitney House and The Whitney Restaurant

Windows, some by Louis Comfort Tiffany, are part of the The David Whitney House and The Whitney Restaurant in Detroit. The building and windows were photographed and registered in the Michigan Stained Glass Census by MSGC volunteer Heather O'Hara of Detroit, MI. The Window of the Month feature was written by MSU undergraduate Elizabeth Schreiner, Michigan Stained Glass Census, May, 2012 as part of an independent study class.

Go here to read the history and descriptions of the building and windows and to see images and details.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

May 12-13 2012 Native American Foodways Workshop

Gdapnamen gété mno-wisnewen
A Workshop on Revitalizing Traditional Native American Foodways
May 12-13, Camp Jijak. Hopkins Michigan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where:
Camp Jijak, 2558 20th St., Hopkins, MI 49328

When:
Saturday May 12, 2012 at 9:00 AM EDT-to-
Sunday May 13, 2012 at 5:00 PM EDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello, Aanii,

The Revitalizing Traditional Native Food-ways Workshop, hosted by the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi and the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute is coming up on May 12-13th. The
workshop will be held at Camp Jijak, which is between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. You won't want to miss this chance to learn traditional foods and gardening from some of the regions most renowned teachers! We have lined up gourmet food – two lunches and two dinners - and great teachings.

Thanks to generous sponsorship of The Native American Institute, The MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, and SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education), we can offer all of this for the low price of $50 for the weekend or $35 for one day. There is only a week left to register and slots are filling up fast.

There will be a jam session Saturday night so bring your musical instruments, voices, and drums.

Please forward to anyone you know who may be interested. Register soon! This is going to be an awesome event. We will be getting started at 9 am on Saturday and go until 5 pm on Sunday with dinner to follow.
Here is the schedule and menu, details follow:
SATURDAY MAY 12
9:00 Check in / Registration
9:30 Damnaboo; Corn soup making/teachings with George Martin
10:15 Wild plant foods walk and foraging with Daisy Kostus
11:15 Corn washing / Wezhashkemdek - George Martin & Erik Vosteen
12:00 pm - Lunch Served
1:15 Making Cree Pemmican - Daisy Kostus (James Bay Cree)
2:45 Wild Rice Processing - Jonesy Miller & Dale Kakak (Menominee)
Ongoing corn processing and wild plant foraging
6:00 pm - Dinner Served
7:00-9:00 pm - Live Music and Entertainment

SUNDAY MAY 13
9:00 Check in / Registration
9:30 Feast Bundle Teachings with Punkin Shananaquet (Gun Lake Tribe)
10:30 Three Sisters Gardening - Ted Skenandore (Oneida First Nation)
12:00 pm - Lunch Served / traditional seed exchange
1:15 Garden Planting - Ted Skenadore
Black ash corn washing & sifting baskets - Pigeon Family (Gun Lake)
6:00 pm - Dinner Served
Feast Menu
Adikmekwak (Fresh, Tribally Harvested Lake Superior Whitefish)
Mnomen mine Seksi Wiyas (Wild Rice, Venison and Wild Leeks)
Bkoj Bzheke Wiyas (Buffalo Roast)
Acorn Meal Cranberry and Maple Muffins
Spring Greens Salad with Ziwa'abo (Maple Vinegar) Dressing
Wishkmnomen (Sweet Maple Wild Rice)
American Hazelnut and Wild Plum Cookies
Cree Style Pemmican
Damnabo (Corn Soup)
Wezhashkemdek (Boiled Hominy and Hickory Nut Dumplings)
Sassafras Gelato
Shktagnabo (Birch/Chaga tea)
Sassafras Tea

& many more delicious dishes

Event Summary

On Saturday, participants will join Daisy Kostus and elder of the James Bay Cree for a trip to the woods and wetlands to learn about foraging, preparing and preserving wild foods and making traditional pemmican over an open fire. George Martin, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe elder, will present on traditional teachings and techniques for making Damnabo, corn soup prepared with wood ash. Jonesy Miller and Dale Kakkak, Menominee, will share on wild rice processing Saturday activities will conclude with a traditional feast.

Sunday workshop activities will be focused on traditional and sustainable native gardening. Teachings on preparing feast bundles will be given by Punkin Shananaquet
of Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi. Ted Skenendan of the Tsunhehkwa Organic Farm, Oneida Nation with Jonesy Miller will lead participants through the process of planting
a Three Sisters garden. A seed exchange will also be held, so bring seeds to share of you have them. The Pigeon Family will will be teaching now to make black ash corn washing and sifting baskets.

The cost of the workshop is $35 for one day or $50 for both days.
Registration cost includes lunches and Saturday evening feast and activities.

The workshop will be held at Camp Jijak in Hopkins, Michigan, about midway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo off of US 131. If you have any questions about the workshop or need to find local accommodations, please feel free to contact Kevin Finney: 616-644-3822.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get more information [http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=wjxgyvgab&oeidk=a07e5r1innu85e7bdcb&oseq=a01ghgtbo82bn]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for your interest and support. We look forward to seeing you next weekend!!!
Sincerely,

Kevin Finney
Great Lakes Lifeways Institute
kfinney@lifewaysinstitute.org
616-644-3822

Friday, May 11, 2012

Homegrown Concert Series in DC!

 So you are headed to our nation's capitol this summer--did you know there is a free noontime concert series featuring some of the foremost practitioners of their traditions at the Library of Congress? The American Folklife Center produces the Homegrown Concert Series in the Coolidge Auditorium in the spectacular Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.  For many local residents, it is the best kept secret for serious lovers of traditional music.  Give it a try--you will not be disappointed. Here is the line-up for the coming months:

Homegrown poster for 2010 season

Performances - 2012 Homegrown Concert Series
Coolidge Auditorium, Ground Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building

Thursday, June 21, 2012 at noon: Dennis Stroughmatt et L'Esprit Creole - Creole Fiddle Music from Missouri

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at noon: Unukupukupu: Hālau Hula (Hula School) of Hawai'i Community Colllege, Hilo, Hawai'i

Wednesday, July 18 at noon: Ruže Dalmatinke: Traditional Croatian singing from Washington State

Wednesday, August 8 at noon: Patrick Ross and Friends: Traditional Franco-American fiddle music from New Hampshire 

Thursday, August 16 at noon: Robert Safer, Robin Kessinger, and Bobby Taylor: Traditional Flat Pick Guitar and Fiddle music from Kanawha County, West Virginia 

Thursday, August 23 at noon: Singing and Praying Band: Traditional African American acapella gospel music from Delaware and Maryland 

Thursday, September 13 at noon: Los Tres Reyes: Traditional Mexican Bolero Trio from Texas
Wednesday, September 26 at noon: Mariano Gonzalez Ramirez: Traditional Paraguayan Harp ensemble, with guitar, singer, and dancer from Nevada 

--C. Kurt Dewhurst, MSU Museum

NEA gives two grants to the MSU Museum for folk arts



National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced in April that the Michigan State University Museum is one of 788 not-for-profit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide to receive competitive NEA Art Works grants.
MSU Museum is recommended for two grants totaling $80,000 to support work of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. One grant is aimed at strengthening the state's folklife through fieldwork and targeted documentation of traditional artists and folk arts events; use new and existing documentation to enhance online web resources; and develop social media tools to connect folk artists, audiences, and other cultural workers. The second provides support for the Michigan Heritage Awards and Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, which research, document and share traditional arts and expressive culture of Michigan.
The 788 Art Works grants total $24.81 million and support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.
Read more: http://museum.msu.edu/index.php?q=node/643

New exhibition on a Michigan weaver at the MSU Museum


Margaret Windeknecht weaving
Photo by Pearl Yee Wong, MSU Museum
WEAVING A LIFE: THE FIBER ART OF MARGARET WINDEKNECHT
The MSU Museum presents a new acquisition, a collection of weavings by Margaret Windeknecht (1936-2009). Margaret Windeknecht was a creative and prolific weaver and author. Her fiber techniques and designs were published in 10 books, including Color and Weave, a groundbreaking work she wrote with her husband Tom on computer-aided design to develop weaving patterns. The former president of the Michigan Weavers Guild, Windeknecht received more than 70 awards in juried exhibitions and taught numerous workshops at guilds and conferences throughout the country. Undeterred by a stroke, Windeknecht continued her creative process and altered the scale of her work and learned to weave and bead using one hand. In her later years, she worked increasingly in miniature and beadwork. It was also during this time that the majority of her published works were produced.

"Weaving a Life: The Fiber Art of Margaret Windeknecht" is on exhibit through July 1 at the MSU Museum.

Read more: http://museum.msu.edu/index.php?q=node/641