Folk Art and Heritage in Massachusetts
Interested in applying for a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship? Applications are now available. Recent apprenticeships funded by MCC’s Folk Arts and Heritage Program include wooden boatbuilding, North Indian Indian tabla, Scottish bagpiping, Cambodian dance, Turkish ebru, bladesmithing, and Irish dance, to name a few. Check them out.
Brick making and utilitarian pottery was once a thriving industry in Massachusetts. Come hear Rich Hamelin of Pied Potter Hamelin Redware talk about the people, language, history, materials, and development of brick and pottery making in America from the early Colonial days through the 1930s. Special focus on a who’s who in Massachusetts and Medford (such as the Tufts family) clay working industries. The Program will take place February 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Medford Historical Society headquarters located at 10 Governors Ave. in Medford.
Lomax, the Hound of Music, a relatively new show on PBS, stars a puppet dog who rides a train in search of local music and musicians. Named after legendary folklorist and musicicologist Alan Lomax, this four-legged hound tracks down folksongs on the Melody Hound Express, traveling to many regions of the United States. As befitting a dog, Lomax has the advantage of being able to hear tunes from very far away.
Perhaps this show will introduce a whole new generation of children to participatory folk music. On the other hand, unmediated folk music is still alive and well around the country, as this video clip featuring the real Alan Lomax’s sister, Bess Lomax Hawes commenting on the contuinuity of children’s hand-clapping games.
