Bristol, Va.-Tenn. (June 7, 2022) – You’re invited to the premiere of Virginia Folklife‘s “In Good Keeping in 2022,” a feature-length documentary film showcasing the artists and tradition-bearers from the 2021-2022 class of the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program.
The premiere is co-presented with the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions and will be held in the performance theater at the museum in Historic Downtown Bristol at 5:30 p.m. EDT, June 15. The event is free and open to all, but pre-registration is requested. To pre-register, visit the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.
“The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is the perfect place to premiere this film,” said Katy Clune, Virginia state folklorist and director of the Virginia Folklife Program. “This event also marks a new approach to celebrating our mentor artists and their apprentices in communities around the state.”
Since its inception in 2002, the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program has served over 150 teams of mentor artists and apprentices representing the breadth of cultural expression in the Commonwealth.
“We are excited to be partnering with Virginia Folklife and Mid Atlantic Arts to premiere ‘In Good Keeping in 2022’ at the museum,” said museum Head Curator Dr. Rene Rodgers. “We hosted a wonderful exhibit about the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program in 2020, and it was wonderful to see the variety of traditions being shared and passed on across Virginia, and how these partnerships are changing lives and communities. This film will give viewers the chance to learn more about this important program.”
You are encouraged to experience a virtual tour of Real Folk: Passing on Trades & Traditions Through the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program special exhibit to provide more context to the film premiere. You’ll find it by visiting BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org and navigating to the Museum page, then Exhibits. The virtual tour is listed among the past exhibits section of the website.
There will be a brief reception with refreshments at 5:30 p.m. EDT prior to the screening of the film at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Audience members may also stay after the screening for a discussion and live music from participating artists including Walter “Skip” Herman and K. T. Vandyke, Emily Spencer and Lisa Ring, Chris Testerman, Sophia Burnette and Karlie Keepfer, Eddie Bond and Andrew Small, and Mac Traynham and Ashlee Watkins.
For more information about the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, visit VirginiaFolklife.org. For more information about the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, visit MidAtlanticArts.org. For more information about the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, visit BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.