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Arts & Entertainment

Pancake Revisited

January 4, 2021 By Gonzalo Baeza

A few years ago, I took a day off from work, packed some clothes, and drove from my former home in the DC area to Milton, West Virginia. I had not visited Milton (pop. 2400) before nor its surrounding areas, but I felt that some of the sights during my six-hour road trip were familiar.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: Appalachia, book review, short story

Seeing & Hearing The Signs of New Beginnings

January 4, 2021 By Doug Pifer

Photo of witch hazel flowers in bloom. Photo Credit Doug Pifer.

As a difficult and challenging year winds down and the pandemic shows new surges, I find much comfort observing nature. The transition from late fall into winter to me represents more of a beginning than an end.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: COVID-19

Talking Across Time & Space

January 4, 2021 By Steve Pearson

Adam Booth

Adam Booth credits a course he took with Rachael Meads in the Appalachian Studies department at Shepherd University for starting him on the path to becoming a professional storyteller, a passion he has pursued as a career for the past fifteen years.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: Adam Booth, Appalachian traditions, COVID-19, Shepherd University, storytelling, virtual

Speak Story Series for 2021

January 4, 2021 By Staff Contributor

The planned lineup for 2021 will feature a storyteller each month. Details will be posted on the website as they are finalized. All events will be presented online through June.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: Adam Booth, Appalachian traditions, Speak Stories, storytelling, virtual

CATF Shares Highlights of New Theater Online

December 22, 2020 By Staff Contributor

The discussion and development of new theater goes on, even if the stages are dark. With the continued presence of COVID-19, the theater community continues to create and explore new avenues for sharing and collaborating online — offering the public glimpses into the process that would normally not be so visible. The Contemporary American Theater […]

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: CATF, Contemporary American Theater Festival, COVID-19, theater, virtual

Even the Birds Sound Different in 2020

December 1, 2020 By Doug Pifer

White-Throated Sparrow. Photo by Doug Pifer.

About a half hour after sunrise, the song of a white-throated sparrow came from our big forsythia bush. I look forward to these sparrows every year, but this time I was paying special attention.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: birdwatching

Life in the Midlist

December 1, 2020 By Gonzalo Baeza

Aspiring writers may have a hard time finding responsive publishers and agents, but at least they have an entire industry that caters to them. Why then would there be a need for another book about writing fiction? Jon Sealy’s So You Want to Be a Novelist answers that question in its first few pages.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: book review, memoir

Living with Racism as a Black Woman

October 29, 2020 By Staff Contributor

Donna Washington.

Tune in from the comfort of home to be informed, entertained, and perhaps discomfited by, Donna Washington’s performance of “The Chairs in the Trees” presented by Speak Storytelling.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: Donna Washington, racism, Shepherdstown Speak Story Series, storytelling, virtual

Music Performance Transposed for COVID-19

October 29, 2020 By Steve Pearson

The Music School at Shepherd University makes a point to be a highly personalized experience for its students. In contrast to many programs at larger institutions, Shepherd is focused on undergraduates and emphasizes the opportunities for its students to study directly with faculty. Unfortunately, the very adjectives that one would use to describe music programs in general and Shepherd’s program specifically — intimate, group, performance, together — also describe the activities the health department advises against during the pandemic health crisis.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: COVID-19, music, performance, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown School of Music, virtual

Hungry Dogs

October 29, 2020 By Gonzalo Baeza

Compared to national politics, it often seems that local governmental affairs involve lower stakes and mundane concerns. That outlook is just as frequently mistaken. History has shown us repeatedly that grassroots movements or social malaises can brew under the radar of the national media only to erupt on the national stage with explosive force.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: book review, populism

Words Plus Images

October 1, 2020 By Staff Contributor

Looking down the beach shoreline on a partly cloudy day. painting.

The idea of soliciting poems to combine with art seemed to fit perfectly with he Washington Street Artists’ Cooperative’s goals of expanding participation in art.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: artist spotlight, poetry, Washington Street Artists Cooperative

Angry Politics

October 1, 2020 Review by Gonzalo Baeza

Book cover for Beyond Populism. Angry Politics and the Twilight of Neoliberalism.

Populism is typically analyzed by political scientists, who look at the ideological frameworks and political dynamics at play; historians, who delve into the roots of the different movements; and journalists, who take a more contingent approach to the parties and personalities. Beyond Populism enriches these perspectives with a primarily anthropological view of the political projects typically labeled as populist.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: book review, Donald Trump, neoliberalism

An Artist’s Journey

October 1, 2020 By Staff Contributor

Artist Tim Clayton stands and smiles in front of a well on which his oil paintings are displayed.

It took a few years of wandering for Tim Clayton to discover his passion for painting. When describing his path, Tim focuses on the evolution of his approach to art and his style of expression.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: artist spotlight, painting, The Bridge Gallery, Tim Clayton

Tuning In Virtually

September 1, 2020 By Staff Contributor

two musicians play Tchaikovsky None but the Lonely Heart on piano and violin over a video stream.

With its regular concert activities on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the eastern panhandle’s Friends of Music organization is experimenting with technology to produce virtual concerts they’re calling “Musical Postcards,”

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: COVID-19, Friends of Music, Jed Gaylin, Musical Postcards, virtual

Keeping the Stage Lights On at the Black Box Youth Playhouse

September 1, 2020 By Laura Richards Bakin

two Performers at the Black Box Youth Theater.

Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, there is no doubt that art touches your life. The arts tell our story, they are a beautiful legacy. Engaging people from an early age in the arts enhances their development by opening their eyes to different experiences, different voices, and uniquely personal ways for them to express their own dreams and visions.

Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: Black Box Youth Playhouse, COVID-19, theater

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