In "The Biography of an Afghan", Dr. J. Janice Coleman relates the story of crocheter Martha M. Jones. As a teenager, when she was suffering from a painful chronic illness, a nurse helped her learn how to crochet. This turned out to be the medicine she needed. Although she continued to suffer from poor health, crochet allowed her to pass the time and leave a beautiful legacy that continues to show her love for her family and community.
Read this article in the newest issue of Mississippi Folklife by clicking on the link in our bio!
Saucier resident Bernadette Goodness began learning the traditional dances of her native Philippines while attending high school in her hometown of Davao City. Traditional dance is part of physical education classes in the Philippines, just as square dancing used to be in many American schools. Bernadette loved dance in general, from the ballet she learned as a young girl to ballroom dance and her nation’s own dances.
Bernadette began traveling to and from the United States in 2000. She met her future husband in New York and moved with him to southern Mississippi. In Biloxi, they joined Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, which offers a mass for its Filipino parishioners every Wednesday evening (in English, with songs in Tagalog). This congregation encompasses much of the substantial Filipino community on the Gulf Coast. Bernadette’s offer to organize dance ensembles in 2006 was very welcome. Dance had already been part of celebrations in the Gulf Coast’s Filipino-American Society—dance and music are important in immigrant communities worldwide in maintaining group identity—but Bernadette’s involvement increased this activity greatly here. She says that dancing reinforces pleasant memories of the Philippines, is an offering to God, and is just plain fun.
For more information on Bernadette Goodness and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org or at the link in our bio.
#MSFolkArts #msfolkartist #MSArts #filipinodance #tinikling #filipinoculture
Master instrument builder M. B. Green (March 18, 1930 – July 2, 2022) was born in Soso (Jones County) in 1930, into a family of farmers. When his father died in 1945, the family moved to be around his mother’s relatives in nearby Louin. He married in 1951, and his family would eventually include six children. He worked as a baker (including in the Army during the Korean War), a barber, then, for 35 years, rebuilding Conn organ tone generators, plus repairing these and other electronics. When he retired in 1992, he had already been running his Banjo Shop on his own land for a dozen years, selling both his own instruments and inexpensive imports.
Green bought a Kay banjo from Sears in 1960. During the 1970s, then again in the 1990s, he played in a bluegrass gospel group. He was interested in how his banjo was made, so he measured it carefully and duplicated it to the best of his ability. He stored the new instrument under his bed. After a while, somebody that knew he played asked if he knew where they could buy a banjo: they were hard to find. So, Green’s first banjo changed hands, and he cautiously made two more. They both sold quickly, and he never looked back.
In addition to his banjos, Green made a variety of instruments. At the end of this sound clip, we can hear him play his version of an Irish bouzouki, a stringed instrument derived from the Greek bouzouki and popular in Irish traditional music.
For more information on MB Green and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org or at the link in our bio.
#MSFolkArts #MSArts #msfolkartist #folkmusic #oldtimemusic
Prize-winning quilter Judy Spiers was born and raised in Marion County, on the western edge of Foxworth. Her family tree is packed with musicians and artists, many of them painters. She also has a great-great-great-great-great grandmother whose quilt is in a museum in Jackson. Most of these ancestors were farmers, though her parents worked in a manufacturing plant in Columbia.
While growing up, Spiers spent many summers at her grandmother’s farm, where she learned to sew by making doll clothes from her grandmother’s fabric scraps. The summers on the farm also helped her to develop a love for nature, which is evident in the subject matter of many of her quilts.
For more information on Judy Spiers and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org or at the link in our bio.
Born in 1932 in Sabougla, Mississippi, Welch came from a musically inclined family. His early prowess with the guitar led to performances in his local school for plays and musicals. In his younger days, he worked with a logging crew in the timber industry and played guitar whenever he got the chance.
Early in his career, Welch played blues and worked solo and with groups playing at community gatherings, cafes, on radio stations and in local clubs. Starting in 1975, he began to focus on gospel instead, becoming a familiar artist in the African American gospel scene around Bruce and playing mostly with the Sabougla Voices and the Skuna Valley Male Chorus. Leo Welch passed away in 2017, leaving behind an impressive musical legacy that continues to resonate today.
For more information on Leo Welch and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org or at the link in our bio.
Audio credit: “Praise His Name” by Leo Welch and the Sabougla Voices
Interview with Wiley Prewitt, 2/2005, Bruce, MS
This is the third and final post this week featuring one of the musical artists in the Mississippi Folklife Directory, the Sparks Family Singers, who have been playing a blend of traditional gospel songs and their own compositions since 1972. The group is led by mandolin player and singer Bryan Sparks and has featured several of his siblings over the years. Currently, he is joined by brother Dalton Sparks on guitar and vocals and their sister Peggy Sparks Adams on accordion and vocals.
With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Folklife Directory provides access to a wide sampling of the materials in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s (MAC) Folklife Archive – including the interview, concert recording, and photographs featured in this week’s reels. The Directory consists of entries for artists, musicians, vernacular architecture sites, foodways, and folklife events. Each entry provides text, photos, contact information, and/or multimedia materials that present and document Mississippi’s traditional practices.
For more information on the Sparks Family Singers and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org.
This week, we’re featuring one of the musical artists in the Mississippi Folklife Directory, the Sparks Family Singers, who have been playing a blend of traditional gospel songs and their own compositions since 1972. The group is led by mandolin player and singer Bryan Sparks and has featured several of his siblings over the years. Currently, he is joined by brother Dalton Sparks on guitar and vocals and their sister Peggy Sparks Adams on accordion and vocals.
With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Folklife Directory provides access to a wide sampling of the materials in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s (MAC) Folklife Archive – including the interview, concert recording, and photographs featured in this week’s reels. The Directory consists of entries for artists, musicians, vernacular architecture sites, foodways, and folklife events. Each entry provides text, photos, contact information, and/or multimedia materials that present and document Mississippi’s traditional practices.
For more information on the Sparks Family Singers and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org.
This week, we’re featuring one of the musical artists in the Mississippi Folklife Directory, the Sparks Family Singers, who have been playing a blend of traditional gospel songs and their own compositions since 1972. The group is led by mandolin player and singer Bryan Sparks and has featured several of his siblings over the years. Currently, he is joined by brother Dalton Sparks on guitar and vocals and their sister Peggy Sparks Adams on accordion and vocals.
With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Folklife Directory provides access to a wide sampling of the materials in the Mississippi Arts Commission’s (MAC) Folklife Archive – including the interview, concert recording, and photographs featured in this week’s reels. The Directory consists of entries for artists, musicians, vernacular architecture sites, foodways, and folklife events. Each entry provides text, photos, contact information, and/or multimedia materials that present and document Mississippi’s traditional practices.
For more information on the Sparks Family Singers and other Mississippi traditional artists, check out the Directory at msfolkdirectory.org.
On Tuesday, May 9, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced that L.V. Hull’s home in Kosciusko, Mississippi, was named one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places!
At the announcement, Yaphet Smith (first speaker), a personal friend of L.V. Hull, talked about how this designation helps with the fundraising currently being done by the Key Smith Foundation and the Arts Foundation of Kosciusko to turn her home into the L.V. Hull Legacy Center. Once complete, the center will comprise L.V.’s home and four repurposed structures located on the corner of her street. The Arts Foundation of Kosciusko also partnered with the Kohler Foundation to preserve L.V.’s work.
Hollis Cheek, President of the Arts Foundation of Kosciusko (second speaker), briefly commented on the future of L.V.’s artwork and the properties.
Leslie Canaan with the African American Cultural Heritage Fund (last speaker) made the formal announcement for the National Trust for Historic Preservation naming L.V. Hull’s home as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
To learn more about the folk artist L.V. Hull, visit the following link: https://mississippifolklife.org/articles/a-brief-field-guide-to-mississippi-art-environments-and-their-makers
#mississippi #Kosciusko #folkart #publicart #historic #msarts
On Jan 21st traditional artists around the state participated in our Artist Demonstration Day at the Willie Morris Public Library in Jackson.
In the first video clip, Alan is showing his tatting process to make lace. Tatting is a form of knotted lace, made by hand. On the table, Alan has some of his fiber pieces and jewelry on display.
In the 2nd clip, Paul is seen painting a sign for the Children’s Corner of the library. Paul’s sign is still on display at the library for our local audience to check out.
In the 3rd video, Sharde is performing with her band, The Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band.
In the last clip, Janice talks about how she uses her gift of sewing to bring joy to people’s lives.
Check out the Mississippi Folklife Directory website to learn more about the work of these amazing artists: https://msfolkdirectory.org/
#creative #art #mississippi #mississippiart #southernartist #folklife #folk
