Arts & Culture Story Archives - Page 325 of 355 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Children's Theater Work Premiers at WVU

An original children’s theater show debuts this weekend in Morgantown. The production comes from the Mountain State Rep, the professional summer theater company out of West Virginia University’s School of Theatre and Dance.

Jerry McGonigle, associate director of the School of Theatre and Dance, says (said) when choosing what to focus on for the summer, they decided to try to do one of the things they do best: puppets.

“We started looking at the demographics of Morgantown,” McGonigle said, “there isn’t anything for children that is professional. [This play] really features some of the strong points of our program: we have one of the only puppetry programs in the country. We’re one of two—which is hard to imagine. So, it’s just kind of a no-brainer that this is where we should go.”

They commissioned a play which is called The Unlucky Princess Battles the Ghouls (and Other Stories). It’s a bedtime story spun out of objects found in the bedroom that tries to capture the essence of playing make-believe. Five cast members including recent BFA graduates, a graduate student, and professors from WVU’s theater program began rehearsing in May for the show that runs over the next couple of weekends.

Tickets are available online or over the phone: 304-293-SHOW.

Matewan Hoping to Use Grant Funding to Make Change

This morning we take a look at the Turn this Town Around Project in Matewan, where they too found out about possible grant funding for the community. They…

This morning we take a look at the Turn this Town Around Project in Matewan, where they too found out about possible grant funding for the community. They hope the available funds are the key to revitalizing the town.

This is part of our continuing series on how the towns of Grafton and Matewan are turning themselves around through a special collaborative project between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, West Virginia Focus magazine and the West Virginia Community Development Hub.

Kelly Webb is a 24-year-old resident of Matewan. But she isn’t your prototypical resident of the small town along the Tug River. The Detroit, Michigan native has only been in the area for 6 months, but in that short time she’s grown fond of her new home and wants it to succeed.

“The younger generation I feel is an important part to community service project, we basically set the precedent for generations to come and learning from the older generations and getting the youth involved, it just sets a pathway for when we have children,” Webb said.

Webb along with a group of approximately 20 others were in attendance in Matewan recently to find out the next step in the process of Turn this Town Around. It’s a project headed up by the West Virginia Community Development Hub to revitalize both Matewan in the southern part of the state and Grafton in the north. At meetings in both areas this week the residents found out about the available funding to their projects. A total of $75,000 could come to the community to support ideas like computer labs, walking and biking areas, tours and renovations of the historic jail.

“Everyone is going to have to band together and really participate to turn the town around,” Webb said.

The meeting this week served several purposes. First, to make the people of Matewan aware of the available funds, but also to make sure they realized there is no time like the present to brainstorm projects that would help the town. Kent Spellman is the executive director of the West Virginia Community Development Hub and wanted the crowd to know the funds from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation wouldn’t be there forever.

“Let me put it this way, there is a sense of urgency about this, the next meeting is July 1^st and that’s when the attendance taking starts, so there is a sense of urgency for you to quickly identify the projects and build teams around them so you can access this funding in its entirety, there is going to have to be a lot of phone calling, e-mailing and talking to neighbors,” Spellman said.

What Spellman was talking about was the need to create small teams for each project. The hope is with the available funding that 20 different projects could be funded. Spellman and others hope to get more people involved in order to complete all of them in the time frame allowed.

Spellman thinks Matewan is a perfect place to undergo the challenge.

“This is sort of like a little trial by fire to see, what does Matewan really think of itself and what can it really accomplish, this is a challenge and it is a stretch and we understand that, but I think you’re up to it,” Spellman said.

Over the coming weeks the groups will meet with members of the development hub at workshops to work through the application process for each of the projects. Applications are due by August 1.

Webb said the people of Matewan realize that outside help was needed to turn the town into what they hope it could be.

“I realize that the people here are just beautiful people, they’re amazing, they live in the mountains and they’re in a rural community, but they make it work and realizing that sometimes there needs to be someone from the outside to come in and say hey we want to help you,” Webb said.

The groups will meet at workshops starting July 1^st.

Grant Funding Coming to 'Turn this Town Around' Communities

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has announced it will give $150,000 to two West Virginia towns participating in the Turn This Town Around…

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has announced it will give $150,000 to two West Virginia towns participating in the Turn This Town Around Project.

Leaders in Grafton and Matewan will be given the money for projects they develop to revitalize their communities.

Through the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the towns of Grafton and Matewan will receive up to $75,000 each in grants to help pay for as many as 20 revitalization projects in each community. But there are strings attached. A core team of at least three people have to work on a project, and commit to attending workshops. In Grafton, one of those people, Douglas Flohr, is working to expand the farmer’s market. Flohr says grant money would help.

“Almost immediately, it’s canopies. We were talking with the folks in Bridgeport, we don’t want people just pulling up with a pickup truck and selling stuff out of the back of the truck. If we can provide canopies, once we get folks selling their produce, when they start making money, it will grow,” he said.

“We see local artists coming, anybody with something will be able to sell at this market. The seed money will allow us to buy some infrastructure right up front.”

The revitalization projects included in Turn this Town Around fall into three areas. The first are regarded as low-hanging fruit, which means they can be completed by the end of this year. Each individual project can receive up to $2,500. The second area is intermediate. That means the project can be completed by next July. The final area is bold, transformational, which may take years to complete. Flohr says he hopes to be involved with several different projects in all these areas.

“I don’t think we are ever going to see a blossoming of Grafton in the downtown area. I think we see it as a place where there are boutique shops, come in and get some coffee, that type of thing. It’s not going to be a strip mall. We aren’t going to see J.C. Penny again,” he said.

“I think the farmer’s market will help us economically to bring folks to the downtown area. It’s a community. It’s giving people a place where they want to live.”

Another member of the farmer’s market team, is Peggy Barney. She’s also on another team working on civic infrastructure. This includes getting an after business hours conversation group together in Grafton, to meet and talk about how to improve the community. Discussion like this used to happen but it fell by the way side.

“We’ve talked to different groups, there are different people who are interested in getting that re-organized. Different businesses, each month, a different business would sponsor it,” said Barney.

“It would be at their business or a location of their choosing. It’s just a meet and greet, getting to know everybody.”

Barney has lived in Grafton for many years. She says throughout that time, she’s seen her community change a great deal. She’s very excited about the Turn this Town Around process, which she says is different from past revitalization efforts.

“I have been involved in efforts like this for some time over the years. I have seen Grafton go from a very prosperous town to losing all our industries,” she said.

“This is a little bit different than anything that has been done before. Looking around the room, you can feel the energy.”

The teams must submit applications for the funding by August 1.

Trust to Preserve 665 Acres Along Gauley River

More than 600 acres in the Gauley River National Recreation Area will be protected from development.

The West Virginia Land Trust said Monday that it has acquired 665 acres from Bright Forestland Properties, Larry Deitz, and the Anne E. Deitz Trust. The property is an area known as the Gauley Canyon downstream from the river’s confluence with the Meadow River.

The land trust says in a news release that the gorge provides rafting, kayaking, hiking, fishing and other recreational opportunities.

Adventures on the Gorge vice president Dave Arnold says rafting companies run the Gauley River year-round. He says the land trust’s acquisition of the property offers a potential public access point when the river is low.

W.Va. DNR to Conduct Special Deer Hunt at Green Bank

Hunters can apply for a controlled deer hunt at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory site in Green Bank.

The Division of Natural Resources says a drawing will be held for the hunt, which will be conducted in four areas on Oct. 17 and 18. Applications are due by Aug. 1 and are available at DNR district offices or at the observatory.

The hunting areas will be designated for bow, muzzleloader and shotgun, or muzzleloader only.

The maximum limit is one doe per day. Five hunters also will be selected from a lottery to hunt for deer of either sex. These deer don’t count toward the hunters’ annual limit.

Participants must have hunting licenses or have exemptions from purchasing them. Deer must be taken to a checking station on site.

Concord Professor Uses Acid Mine Drainage for Pottery

If you see a body of water with an orange hue, it’s likely the result of acid mine drainage. This pollutant is left behind from abandoned mine shafts coming in contact with the water and it can harm aquatic life.

Steam Restoration Incorporated, a non-profit organization based out of Pennsylvania, has found an unexpected use for this pollutant – pottery. It turns out the iron oxide generated by this abandoned mine drainage cleanup effort can be used as a glaze.

Jamey Biggs, an art professor at Concord University, uses the unique substance while glazing pottery. He was first approached about the opportunity while showcasing his work at Tamarack.

“The discussion around ceramics usually seems to come back to materials,” Biggs said. “So as people move through in waves, I will find myself talking about materials and how that plays a part in it.”

That’s when a woman with the company offered him a free ten pound sample. And it was a success. The pottery that came out of the kiln showed the same results as the other glazes.

“So the idea of using this iron that is, you can produce the same results that is actually being generated as a byproduct of a stream recovering is a nice idea and it’s a nice use for the material that would otherwise be treated as waste,” Biggs said.

Biggs uses a wood kiln to fire his pottery. He uses a traditional Japanese method that lasts 44 hours.

“As it burns it produces ash, and the ash lands on the pots and through the high temperatures and the extended time period the ash melts and forms the glass on the outside of the pot as well as melting the glazes on the inside,” Biggs said, explaining the process.

Concord student Remington Radford has taken the current shift and loves the way the pottery looks once finished.

“Just the turn out, the ash that falls on it, there’s so much differentiation, you’re not going to get one piece that’s the same,” Radford said. “It’s all going to be slightly different, if not completely.”

Biggs grew up in Summersville and can remember when he was a child the few remaining strip mines before they were shut down. He doesn’t consider himself an environmentalist, but says the cleanup is necessary.

“You know, these landscapes are the way they are. We’re going to have to deal with this one way or another,” Biggs said. “These systems work and they’re very effective. The next step is maybe finding a purpose for these metals that are recovered.”

Biggs, along with fellow Concord professor Norma Accord, published their recipes in a catalog for making glaze out of acid mine drainage and held a presentation early last month. Biggs says the communication that is inspired by sharing the ingredients is what’s most important.

“If potters have access to these recipes, it’s a little easier to incorporate this new material,” Biggs said.