William Christenberry at his home in Washington D.C in 2007, program 1

This program is a rebroadcast of Joey Brackner, Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, interviewing Alabama native, and renowned artist, William Christenberry at his home in Washington D.C in 2007.  William Christenberry died Monday, November 28, 2016 in Washington, DC at the age of 80. This is the first of two interviews with Christenberry discussing his life's work as an artist that includes drawing and painting as well as his unique dream house sculptures and acclaimed photographic documentation of rural Alabama. This special radio series will air every Tuesday at 8:00 to 8:30 P.M. central, on the Troy Public Radio Network at:   WTSU 89.9 (Montgomery and Troy) WRWA 88.7 (Dothan) WTJB 91.7 (Columbus and Phenix   City)  This radio series may not be broadcast in your area, but it can be accessed via the Internet at: http://www.arts.alabama.gov/actc/radioserieslist.aspx If you have been listening to, and enjoying this radio series, please send your comments to: barbara.reed@arts.alabama.gov Listen first hand using the link below. MP3 Download/Stream

In this program Anne Kimzey talks to author and photographer Marian Furman of Camden, Alabama about her new book, Through a Woman's Eye: The Early 20th Century Photography of Alabama's Edith Morgan. This special radio series will air every Tuesday at 9:00 to 9:30 P.M., on the Troy University Public Radio Network at:   WTSU 89.9 (Montgomery and Troy) WRWA 88.7 (Dothan) WTJB 91.7 (Columbus and Phenix   City)  This radio series may not be broadcast in your area, but it can be accessed via the Internet at: http://www.arts.alabama.gov/actc/radioserieslist.aspx If you have been listening to, and enjoying this radio series, please send your comments to: barbara.reed@arts.alabama.gov Listen first hand using the link below. MP3 Download/Stream Through a Woman's Eye presents an evocative collection of a hundred black and white photographs made by Edith Morgan of Camden, a small town in Wilcox County, Alabama, just after the turn of the twentieth century. Morgan was educated locally before attending the School of the Chicago Art Institute. Subsequently she returned to Camden where she spent the remainder of her life teaching art. She also taught illiterate blacks and whites to read. Thirty years ago, Marian Furman, also of Camden and herself a professional photographer, discovered an album made by Morgan of photographs of her friends, students, and local African Americans. The latter, although somewhat stereotypical of photographs of blacks at the time, are sympathetic; they reveal the humanity of Morgan's subjects. This volume collects Morgan's photographs, along with essays that put them in the context of time and place. Professor Hardy Jackson's essay presents a personal memory. Furman describes socioeconomic and political conditions in Wilcox County and offers biographical information on the Morgan family. Dr. Matthew Mason of Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library presents additional biographical information and offers a critical assessment of Morgan's photographs, comparing her work to that of contemporary photographers, especially her female peers.

Mary Allison Haynie, director of the Alabama Folklife Association

This week Joey Brackner, director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, talks with Mary Allison Haynie, director of the Alabama Folklife Association.  They discuss the AFA's traveling exhibit "Alabama in the Making" as well as upcoming workshops for researchers and teachers.

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2013 Southern Makers Event Montgomery Alabama

This week, Visual Arts Program Manager Elliot Knight discusses the Southern Makers event, which will be held Saturday, May 4 from 2-7pm in the Union Station Train shed in downtown Montgomery. Southern Makers is a one day event celebrating Alabama creativity and innovation by bringing together highly curated, handpicked top talent - artists, chefs, breweries, craftsmen, designers - for one fantastic gathering to explore the contemporary side of Alabama's heritage of textiles, music, craftsmanship, and food.  Elliot talks with event organizers Andrea Jean (Goodwyn Mills and Cawood) and Edwin Marty (E.A.T. South) about the event and what will be offered on May 4.  Elliot also talks with fashion designer Natalie Chaninand woodworker Ethan Sawyer, who will both be at the event. 

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Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts

This week Anne Kimzey interviews Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  Head was recently honored in Washington, D.C. as a recipient of the 2012 Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for his role as a traditional arts advocate during his 40-year career directing cultural agencies in three states.
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Alabama Arts Radio, Joe Dan Boy Author of "Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp"

This program is a repeat of a 2003 interview by Joey Brackner with Joe Dan Boyd about his book on Judge Jackson, the Ozark, Alabama man who published the "Colored Sacred Harp" tunebook in the 1930's. Included in the show are historic musical examples of African American songsters.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Sulynn Creswell, director of Black Belt Treasures

Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews Sulynn Creswell, director of Black Belt Treasures in Camden, Alabama.  Creswell discusses the efforts of Black Belt Treasures to showcase and promote the arts of the Black Belt Region.  (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Linda Vice, director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office

The Southwest Alabama Culinary Trail is the topic of this week’s program as Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, travels to Thomasville to interview Linda Vice, director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office.   Ms. Vice takes listeners on a county-by-county tour highlighting the traditional cuisine and hospitality offered along the trail, which includes everything from Conecuh and Monroe sausages to the Black Bottom Pie served at Gaines Ridge Supper Club in Camden. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Joyce Cauthen, recently retired director of the Alabama Folkife Association

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Joyce Cauthen, recently retired as the director of the Alabama Folkife Association.  In this conversation Joyce discusses her many years as director of the AFA and how she developed the organization and the folklife research she accomplished over three decades as director. She also describes her work with the Birmingham Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance and her performance group, Red Mountain.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Poet Jake Adam York

Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. interviews Jake Adam York, featured poet at the 6th Annual Alabama Book Festival. Thompson talks with York about his “open project” of poems memorializing murdered civil rights workers, inspired when he visited the newly installed Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. more

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Valerie Burnes and Tina Jones

Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews two University of West Alabama faculty members who are working to promote the Black Belt region of Alabama.  In the first half of the show Valerie Pope Burnes, Director of the Center for the Study of the Black Belt and Assistant Professor of History at UWA discusses the activities of the Center and its role in creating appreciation of the culture and natural history of the 19-county region.  In the second half of the show, Dr. Tina Naremore Jones, Dean of Educational Outreach at UWA and president of the board of the Alabama Black Belt Heritage Area describes efforts to develop tourism in the region.
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AlabamaArts Radio Podcast, Bettie Fikes Blues Singer and Civil Rights Activist

This week Deborah Boykin interviews singer and civil rights activist Bettie Fikes, who discusses her experiences as a Freedom Singer and the performers who influenced her style as blues singer. Ms. Fikes recently performed in Tuscaloosa with the Alabama Blues Project and talks about returning to her home state to sing with these students.

Alabama Arts Radio podcast --MS Hill Country Bluesman Kenny Brown

This week Deborah Boykin interviews bluesman Kenny Brown, who recently appeared at the Chicken and Egg Festival in Moulton. Brown talks about R. L. Burnside and the other musicians who were his influences. He also discusses his North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. The event pays tribute to Brown's musical roots by presenting most of the performers currently playing in the distinctive hill country blues style he learned as a child.

Alabama Arts Radio podcast --Felecia Jones

In this show Barbara Edwards, Deputy Director, interviews Felecia Jones, Executive Director of the Black Belt Community Foundation.  The Council began working in partnership three years ago with the Black Belt Community Foundation to identify, celebrate and support the arts and culture of the black belt region of Alabama.
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