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Moorefield’s creative placemaking sparking new conversations

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Local creatives welcomed the Create Your State tour to the community
BY TOM HART, CULTIVATE WV COMMUNITY COACH, THE HUB

Moorefield, along with Cowen, are two communities participating in The Hub’s Cultivate WV Program.  Recently, as part of Moorefield’s Cultivate activities, the Create Your State tour was scheduled to travel to the area to deliver their always-inspiring multimedia presentation on how to leverage creativity to transform your community. As a community coach for the Cultivate WV program, I was excited to once again see this presentation.

As I arrived at Moorefield High School for the gathering, I was immediately taken aback by the festival-like atmosphere. 

In the parking lot were pop up canopies with face painting and other art being created. Inside the school commons area, local artists and performers were busy setting up their displays, drawing, sketching, and belly dancing! The community had decided to organize a local artisan showcase prior to and conjunction with the Create Your State presentation. This fantastic idea was the perfect opening act to set the atmosphere for the performers of Create Your State. 

Following the presentation, many of the participants stayed for a vibrant and robust roundtable discussion of opportunities and possibilities for further creative growth in the Moorefield area.

Congratulations to the dynamic individuals of the Moorefield community for having the vision and initiative to create such a positive and festive atmosphere!


WV theatre troupe brings Shakespeare to communities across the state

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The Rustic Mechanicals at Toad Hall in Grafton, WV. Photograph by Ben Queen of Ben Queen Photography.
BY EMMA PEPPER, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS, THE HUB

Are you ready to watch the words of Shakespeare come to life in the penthouse suite of a hotel in Morgantown? What about in a community-created outdoor performance space, surrounded by public art in downtown Grafton? Or a historic mansion in Philippi?

There are still 10 performances left in this summer’s Laugh and Let Go Tour with West Virginia’s only Shakespeare troupe, The Rustic Mechanicals. The troupe will perform As You Like It on the following dates:

Thursday, July 11, 2019 at 7:00p
Waterfront Place Hotel – Morgantown, WV
*indoors/outdoors, ticketed event

Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 6:00p
Adaland Mansion – Philippi, WV
*indoors/outdoors, dinner theater, ticketed event

Sunday, July 14, 2019 at 7:00p
Toad Hall – Grafton, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Friday, July 19, 2019 at 7:30p
The Park at 5th & Lee – Montgomery, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Saturday, July 20, 2019 at 6:00p
Palatine Park – Fairmont, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Sunday, July 21, 2019 at 7:00p
Town Center Amphitheater – Elkins, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 7:00p
Ferguson Memorial Park – Shinnston, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Friday, July 26, 2019 at 7:00p
Ferguson Memorial Park – Shinnston, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Saturday, July 27, 2019 at 7:00p
Valley Park – Hurricane, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 7:00p
The AMP – Clarksburg, WV
*outdoors, FREE (by donation), bring chairs & picnics

To find out more information, go to The Rustic Mechanicals Facebook events listing »

The troupe blends their love of Shakespeare with a passion for sparking creative energy in West Virginia, including performing in both traditional and non-traditional venues and offering tickets at free and reduced prices for some events to enable as many residents across the state as possible to see this classic play come to life. For readers who have been following the community development efforts coming out of the All Aboard Grafton group for the past few years, you may have noticed that this tour is traveling to Toad Hall, an outdoor community meeting and performance space that was built as a result of their spirit of collaboration and hard work.

The Rustic Mechanicals is also focused on supporting new leadership and talent from emerging artists in the Mountain State. They formally established an apprentice troupe in 2017. Actor Callia Byard joins the cast of As You Like It this year in her first tour as a professional member of the troupe after being promoted from the rank of apprentice.

The Rustic Mechanicals describe the play:

“Shakespeare’s popular romantic comedy stirs wit, sentiment, intrigue, and love into a charming confection which challenges the traditional rules of romance. At its heart, a feisty but feminine Rosalind, in love with the endearingly naïve Orlando, uses her disguise as Ganymede to council him playfully in the art of wooing. Distraction is provided by the remarkably funny Touchstone, and the sonorous tones and lugubrious wit of Jaques.”

Visit The Rustic Mechanicals events listing page on Facebook to get to one of these performances.

New business supporting local artists comes to Madison

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Myria Wade (far left) and Teena Merlin (far right) from Gypsy Sisters Tattoo (image via Facebook)
BY DAN TAYLOR, ENERGIZING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMMUNITIES PROGRAM COORDINATOR, THE HUB

At the most recent Madison Meet Up – this time hosted by the Hacienda Restaurant on Main Street – all in attendance got to meet some new downtown neighbors. Opening in June, Gypsy Sisters Tattoo is a new women-owned and led business looking to do big things in Boone County.

Beyond their tattoo work, owners Teena Merlin and Myria Wade are currently displaying the work of other local artists and have dreams of a future downtown art walk for the Madison community.

On behalf of the Madison/Danville Energizing Entrepreneurial Communities program and team, we are excited to see this new, creative business in town and look forward to working with them in the future, as we support entrepreneurial growth for the community.

Ready to read more about this exciting new business opening in Madison?

Check out the feature article recently published in the Coal Valley News »

From the article:

“‘It all happened so fast,” said Merlin. ‘Within two weeks of speaking to the landlord, we were setting up, painting and decorating. There has been a lot of work to be completed but a lot of fun to be had as well. We’re excited.’

The sisters live in Lincoln County. Merlin – a Navy veteran – came to West Virginia after a stint living in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Wade left the sunny beaches of South Florida to make the Mountain State her home.

‘We really love it here,’ said Wade. ‘The people are so friendly and warm and since we’ve opened the shop, people greet us every day. It’s been amazing.’

Both women are creative and driven, but each brings her own set of skills to the table. The decision to become co-owners of a business came naturally.”

Inc.: These WV artisans created an internationally-recognized company

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Allegheny Treenware measuring spoons (via the Allegheny Treenware Facebook page)
BY LEIGH BUCHANAN FOR INC.

Sue and Stanley Jennings’s love story began underground. In 1984 Sue was a miner, running big machines in a coal pit in Philippi, West Virginia. Stanley was a mechanic, servicing those machines. “He had 10 years underground and I had five,” says Sue, who had followed her best friend into that career.

Two months after they met, the mine shut down for a year, preparing to become a non-union outfit. The couple spent four years largely adrift. He tried strip mining but quit because he found the environmental practices odious. She was a school janitor and worked in a greenhouse.

Then they found their calling: wooden spoons.

Allegheny Treenware cohabits with the Jennings’s farm on 45 acres in Thornton, West Virginia…

Read the full story on the Inc. site »

Tess Myers of Boone County is a ball of energy for greater good

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Tess Myers (center, left) has been working with residents and supporters in Boone County on projects like arts-centered healing and recovery. Pictured here at the
Madison Main Street Small Business Street Fair.
DAN TAYLOR, ENERGIZING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMMUNITIES PROGRAM COORDINATOR, THE HUB

Tess Myers sees creating community and individual empowerment to help address West Virginia’s challenges as the path forward.

She decided she had enough of seeing the opioid epidemic ravage her community and needed to get active. If you ever meet Tess, you’ll find she is a ball of energy. And out of this ball of energy, Boone County’s Generations Saved was created.

Generations Saved is only a little over one year old, but has grown a great deal.

Community-driven efforts like this to help fight the opioid epidemic are inspiring to see. Tess’s work is just one example of the new narrative happening in West Virginia – one that is aware of the challenges, yet rooted in solutions coming out of West Virginian communities.

The organization has two main goals: lower the birth rate of babies born with NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome) and promote the healing effects of the arts as they relate to recovery.

Generations Saved creates and promotes arts-related projects as part of the healing process for recovery and for community outreach. They put on music festivals, art galleries, and more, having worked with Day of Hope, Prestera, and others.

Music Through The Madness, of which they have done two so far, is their music festival project. They are currently planning a third for early September in the Madison area. Other future plans include fundraisers, art shows, a summer tubing event, and more.

The group also works as a primary prevention project to slow down the rate of babies birthed with NAS. The program relies on LARC (Long-Acting Reversible Contraception), which is given voluntarily and is reversible once recovery is complete.


Tamarack Foundation looking for Emerging Artist Fellows

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At the Emerging Artist Fellows exhibition at Taylor Books (via Tamarack Foundation for the Arts Facebook page)
BY EMMA PEPPER, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS, THE HUB

The Tamarack Foundation for the Arts is looking for the next round of Emerging Artist Fellows to participate in this program to boost creative careers, develop leadership skills, and build a network with established artists from across the state.

Nominations are due June 14, 2019.

From the organizers:

“Emerging Artist Fellows are thriving early-career artists. They demonstrate not only a superior level of mastery in their craft, but also the aptitude to become successful professionals leading well-managed creative enterprises. Two fellows will be selected by an independent committee comprised of master-level artists and arts leaders from across the state of West Virginia.

You can self-nominate or have your college professor, mentor, colleague, or other individual nominate you based on your work in the arts. Fellows will be evaluated based upon the level of mastery they have achieved in their creative practice as well as their aptitude and/or desire to achieve professional success.”

To nominate an artist for this fellowship and to find more information, visit the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts site »


Daily Yonder: Thomas, WV – the town the arts (re)built

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Poster for Amanda Blake exhibition, to open soon at Lamplight Gallery in Thomas (via Lamplight Gallery’s Facebook page)
BY BRYCE OATES FOR THE DAILY YONDER

The city of Thomas, West Virginia, like a lot of municipalities in the Mountain State, owes its initial development to coal.

Today, however, the downtown of the small town in eastern West Virginia has redeveloped in response to another economic sector – arts and culture.

“All over West Virginia the arts and culture economy, coupled with outdoor recreation and tourism, are just growing,” said Emily Wilson-Hauger, program director of Woodlands Development Group.

The trend is national, according to a National Governor’s Association “action guide” that describes how rural communities can build on culture and art to renew distressed economies…

Read the full article on the Daily Yonder site »

Five WV communities selected to host Create Your State tour in May

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BY LORI MCKINNEY, CREATE YOUR STATE

Five WV Communities have been selected to host the Create Your State Tour (CYS) in May. CYS is a multi-media music performance, educational presentation and workshop that inspires and empowers creative community revitalization and development through the arts. The towns were selected based on their interest, capacity, drive, and need for this type of development.

Anyone from around the state and region is welcome to attend the shows and workshops in Moorefield, Philippi, Kingwood, New Martinsville and West Huntington May 13-17 from 6:30-9:30pm, which will provide a full program of immersive experiential learning and planning for leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, students and other involved citizens.

The events are free of charge and open to the public. More details are at the end of this story.

The presentation tells the inspiring story of arts-driven community transformation in Princeton, West Virginia through the eyes of artists and cultural entrepreneurs LoriMcKinney and Robert Blankenship. The arts are reigniting their once abandoned downtown with creative capital, reclaiming it as a cultural district that is increasingly drawing new business and tourism. Participants will gain skills, tools, and on-the-ground contacts to spark positive change and cultivate a similar scene in these communities and they will be invited to take advantage of ongoing support—resources, contacts, mentorship—after the workshop as they carry out arts-based community development projects.

The workshop features original music, visual projections and a compelling exchange about how the arts, creativity and an out-of-the-box approach can establish a creative scene that redefines and reinvigorates a community. Participants will have access to a web portal with step-by-step instructional toolkits, video shorts, and more. And they will receive ongoing guidance from the Create Your State (CYS) founders to execute community projects and plant new creative capital in their communities. 

Anyone from around the state and region is welcome to attend and become a part of the conversation. All events are from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m., and the programs will take place at:

  • Moorefield High School on Monday, May 13th
  • Wanderlust Coffeehouse and Wine Lounge in Philippi on Tuesday, May 14th
  • Preston Community Arts Center in Kingwood on Wednesday, May 15th
  • Lincoln Theater in New Martinsville on Thursday, May 16th, and
  • Alias14W in West Huntington on Friday, May 17th

Call 304-320-8833 with questions. The program is free and open to the public.

Register-Herald: Couple sparking creative community in Hinton

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BY MATT COMBS FOR THE REGISTER-HERALD
From the R&R Galleria Facebook page

When Amanda Baker saw the antique tin ceiling past a displaced drop ceiling tile, she was surprised.

“I said, ‘Look at this,’” Baker said. “We started popping the panels out so that we could see it and shine a light up there. Except for one panel that was a little bent and discolored, it was in perfect condition.”

Baker was walking through an old building located on Temple Street in Hinton that she and her business partner, Curt Messer, would turn into R & R Galleria.

The building had sat empty for approximately seven years and the pair would work more than a year to slowly get it into shape.

A relative newcomer to Hinton, six years ago, Baker knew the very first day she came through the old railroad town that she saw potential…

Read the full story on the Register-Herald site »