One of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
Nature Inspires Creativity at Jefferson County Arts Center
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Credit Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Sculptor, Aaron Treher.
A new art installation appeared in Jefferson County, Saturday: Three big, concrete bees were installed on the grounds of Craftworks at Cool Spring. Craftworks is a nature preserve and an art studio located just outside of Charles Town.
Sculptor, Aaron Treher is the brain behind the bees. He says he’s concerned about threats to native bees, like bumblebees.
Treher is the artist-in-residence at Craftworks, and has been for the last year. The organization’s mission is to bring art and nature together.
“Art and nature are very closely related,” Treher said, “I think that there’s a lot of crossovers within a lot of artists’ work cause they draw a lot of their inspiration from nature, so places like this are really important in the sense of finding inspiration, and Craftworks does a really great job of that.”
Craftworks is a place that provides a space for artists to work, and it’s also twelve acres of protected land with a marsh, trails, and wildlife. The idea for the place came from a woman named, Linda Case. She says she wanted to combine nature and art, while also providing a place for people to getaway from their daily lives.
Credit Linda Case / Craftworks at Cool Spring
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Craftworks at Cool Spring
Linda Case, owner and founder of Craftworks.
Originally, Case bought this property to live in, and then she discovered the land included a rare type of marsh.
“It had eighteen rare and very rare West Virginia plants,” Case explained, “so that was good news, and that was bad news. The good news was there was this wonderful, wonderful thing that existed on this land. The bad news was it was responsibility.”
Case wanted to preserve the marsh and share it with the community. In 2008, she made the land what it is today; the marsh, one barn – where Trehar works – and one studio building.
While one of the main things is to provide a space for artists, Craftworks also hosts summer camps for kids, aged 6 to 13.
The studio is the main building on the property, and the building was designed to be energy efficient. The walls are super insulated and so are the windows.
But the property has its struggles. It’s a non-profit, and founder, Linda Case says right now she’s the main provider to keep it going. Other funds come from the community, board members, and grants. But Case says the organization needs to find new sources of funding.
“And it’s trying to find the way to be the most useful, the most valuable, have the highest impact on the community,” Case explained.
That means having events like last weekend’s – with live music, a nature walk focused on pollinators, and the unveiling of Treher’s new work.
Treher’s bees are now mounted on the side of the studio building. They’re near the rafters and made to look like they’re nesting.
Founder, Linda Case hopes the entire property will eventually feature outdoor artwork similar to Treher’s bees.
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One of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
We listen to an excerpt from the latest Inside Appalachia and learn about the influence and contributions of Oscar Micheaux, an African American filmmaker who lived in Virginia in the 1920s and shattered stereotypes.
